Who's the fairest of them all?
by Kristinmw
Summary: New girl in town falls into the life of a Croweater when her friend introduces her to SAMCRO, then struggles to climb her way out when she finds she wants more from the MC.
1. Once Upon a Time

**A/N I'm still working on New Start, but I fell in love with this idea and was so excited about it that it just took off. Lots and lots of thanks to AFspouse for jump starting the idea and helping me work through the story!**

**Also, this story is COMPLETELY AU. Kinda takes place after season 4, but it doesn't follow cannon. There is no Abel or Thomas, Jax was never married to Wendy, lots of people are still alive that should be dead, etc**

Elle Haywood parked her car in front of the pawn shop and stepped out, taking a look around at the tiny town she would soon be calling home. She took a deep breath and walked into the store where her best friend, Rebecca Manning, screeched in welcome, her long, bleach-blond hair bouncing behind her and her green eyes sparkling as she ran up to Elle, giving her a hug.

"You made it!" she squealed and Elle nodded.

"Hey Bex," she said, slightly less enthusiastically. Bex stepped back, giving her a hard look.

"You doin okay?" she asked. Elle shrugged, not really sure what the answer to that question was. Three days ago, she'd been happily living with her fiancé, Clark Monahan, whom she'd been with for nearly 8 years, in Modesto, California, where he was a defense attorney. They'd met when Elle was just a senior in high school and he had been a year away from getting his law degree. As soon as Elle had graduated from Lodi High School, they'd moved in together while he finished school and then moved to Modesto when he got a job offer. He'd finally proposed on their 4 year anniversary, but had spent the next 4 years pushing their wedding date back further and further. He wanted to wait until he had a job, he wanted to wait until he was more respected at his firm, he wanted to wait until he made partner.

And she had waited, faithfully by his side. She'd never gotten a job because he claimed he wanted to be able to take care of her, but on more than one occasion she'd thought that he didn't want a fiancé who was only suited to fold clothes or wait tables. But throughout it all, she was happy with him and knew they'd have a great life together.

That is until a few days ago when he came home and let her know he had been seeing someone on the side for a few years, that they were getting serious, and she had 2 days to pack her shit and find a new place to live. She had been completely devastated, with no clue what she could possibly do. She had no friends of her own in Modesto – the only people she really socialized with were Clark's friends -so she called her best friend from high school, Bex, who had been quick to offer her a job at the pawn shop she'd just inherited from her uncle in the small town of Charming, as well as a place to live until she got back on her feet.

"I really appreciate this, Bex, I really do," Elle told her sincerely, and Bex just smiled and nodded.

"Please, what are friends for?" she asked with a wave of her hand. Elle smiled, and then turned as the sound of motorcycles riding down the street grew louder.

"Sons of Anarchy?" she asked, a slight excitement in her voice. Bex nodded.

"Oh yeah," she said, nodding. Elle watched the bikers stop at a light in front of the store, carrying on a conversation over the roar of their bikes. She felt her breath catch as she watched them take off when the light changed and realized she was subconsciously fluffing her short black hair. She turned back to Bex, grinning.

"God we were obsessed with them in high school," she said reminiscently, remembering being 17 in Lodi, the next town over from Charming, watching the Sons ride into town every so often. They were like these untouchable enigmas to the small town high school girls; so dangerous, so sexy.

"Yeah we were," Bex said, sharing in her memories before snapping back to reality, "I better get back to work, I've got some inventory to get through. Let me give you your key to the apartment and you can go on over and unpack, get settled in. I'll probably take off a couple hours early today so I can help you." Elle took the key from her hand, smiling appreciatively at her.

"Thanks, Bex, for everything," Elle said before Bex shooed her out of the store.

* * *

"So how was work?" Elle asked Bex. They were in the kitchen at Bex's apartment, trying to scrounge together enough food to make something edible for dinner that night. Bex shrugged.

"Work was work," she said vaguely, "Are you gonna be up for starting tomorrow?" Elle nodded.

"Yeah, I've got to get busy doing something, otherwise I'll just be spending the day wallowing in my own self-pity," she said, sighing. Bex shook her head.

"No, we don't want that," she said as she pulled some pasta from the back of the pantry and filled up a pan to boil water.

"So listen, I'm going to a SAMCRO party tonight and I really want to take you with me, but it's kind of an invite only type thing. I've been trying to get you in, but so far it's been a no go. It'll happen though – you've got to come with me. Their parties are the best!" she said.

"SAMCRO?" Elle repeated, "What, Sons of Anarchy? Seriously?" Bex grinned and nodded while Elle stared at her, impressed.

"Yeah, and don't worry, I'll get you in. Just no can do for tonight," she said. Elle nodded, wondering what the mysterious biker boys were like in person and extremely disappointed that she would have to wait to find out.

That night, she watched as Bex, scantily clad in a tiny skirt and tight halter top that left little to the imagination, waved goodbye and headed out to party with the badass bikers. Elle sat on the couch, watching TV, left to wonder what it was like.

Bex never came home that night, so when it was time for Elle's shift at the pawn shop, she headed down there solo. When she got there, Bex was behind the counter, looking hung over and miserable. She glanced up when she heard Elle walk in.

"Oh thank God you're here," she said, "I can barely function." Elle laughed.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised. You never came home last night," she said, fishing for some information.

"I know, I passed out on the pool table with one of the Sons," she said, wriggling her eyebrows, "Which is why I always make sure I have a change of clothes in my car." Elle joined her on her side of the counter, leaning against it.

"So did you have fun?" she asked.

"Oh, _lots_ of fun," Bex said suggestively. Elle laughed.

"Any word on if I can come next time?" she asked hopefully. Bex shook her head.

"No, not yet," she said, "But don't worry, it'll happen." Elle nodded disappointedly.

"Okay, let's start your training," Bex announced, taking a huge swig of coffee before walking her through the steps of the pawn shop.

After a couple of weeks, Elle pretty much had the system at the pawn shop down, but watched as several nights a week Bex headed off to SAMCRO parties, leaving Elle behind with a few half- hearted promises that she'd talk to some Gemma lady (again) about letting Elle come. Elle didn't understand what a big deal it was for her to tag along – it was just a party, after all.

"They just want to make sure they know who's hanging around," Bex explained one day, "A lot of shit goes down in that clubhouse – they can't let just anybody in."

"Okay," Elle said begrudgingly, "I'm just so tired of sitting at home every night while you go out and have the time of your life."

"I know, I'm sorry," Bex said, "You're right - I've been a completely shitty friend." Elle shook her head, smiling.

"No way, you gave me a job and a place to live during the worst time in my life. Going to some parties without me doesn't make you a shitty friend," she responded firmly. Bex grinned.

"Okay but I still want to make it up to you – let's hit the Hairy Dog tonight, you and me." Bex suggested. Elle nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds fun," she said.

* * *

That night, Bex and Elle headed out together to the only bar in Charming – the Hairy Dog. They walked in and looked around. It was fairly small, mildly crowded, and dimly lit, with a bar in the center and pool tables in back.

"God I get so used to not having to pay for drinks at SAMCRO parties," Bex lamented as she dug her wallet out of her purse as they walked up to the bar.

"Ha, must be nice," Elle said. They ordered their drinks and walked over to a table to the side of the bar to sit down.

"Don't worry, I'll get the okay to bring you along soon," Bex said encouragingly.

"So what are they like?" Elle asked excitedly, "The parties?"

"Crazy," Bex responded, sipping on her beer, "It's just wild. And they've been crazier than usual lately because there's been a huge regime change in the club and they've been celebrating."

"So have you hooked up with any of them?" Elle asked.

"Oh yeah, yeah. I mean, not all of them, but a fair few. Some of them have their favorites, so it's harder to get in with them, but hooking up is pretty much expected as a Croweater," she said. Elle raised her eyebrows curiously.

"Croweater?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's what they call us. It's kind of an honor, actually. There are a lot of girls that just hang around the club, come to the parties and stuff every so often. But when you're a Croweater, you take care of them, and they take care of you. It's like a family," she explained. Elle raised her eyebrows.

"You take care of them?" she repeated, "What, you just sleep with anyone who wants you?"

"No, not _anyone_," Bex said, "Just… any patched members." Elle laughed, shaking her head at her friend.

"Oh, okay," she said.

"It's just fun you know," Bex said, returning to her drink, "I mean, you've been sleeping with the same guy for the last 8 years. Maybe it's time for you to loosen up. I mean, remember what it was like in high school?" Elle grinned at the memory.

"Yeah, pretty much a different football player every weekend," she said with a laugh, "Those were the days." Bex shook her head.

"Those days are back, Elle. And I can tell you this – they're all dynamite in bed. At least… the ones I've slept with. And bed is a loose term, usually it's like, dynamite on the pool table, or on top of the bar, or in the bathroom, or-"

"Yeah I get the picture," Elle interrupted her, shaking her head at her friend.

"I don't know…" Elle said slowly. "I pretty much put that kind of life away after high school."

"Yeah, cuz you were wasting your time with Mr. Douchebag," Bex pointed out. Elle shrugged.

"Yeah, but still…" she said, "I guess I'll just have to see when I finally get to go, if that ever happens. See if I want to."

"Oh, you'll want to," Bex said knowingly, and Elle laughed, finishing up her beer and noticing some guys starting to rack up at the pool table. Elle leaned over the table conspiratorially to Bex.

"Hey, you wanna get those drinks paid for, and then some?" she asked with a mischievous smile. Bex grinned.

"What were you thinking?" she asked. Elle nodded her head towards the pool tables.

"I can run em," Elle said, grinning. Bex raised her eyebrows.

"Since when?" she asked. Elle shrugged.

"Since Clark bought that huge house in Modesto, put a pool table in one of the rooms, and wouldn't let me get a job. I spent two years playing 4 hours a day, teaching myself," she said. She tugged on her shirt so her cleavage hung out a bit, "And if they're still better than me, I can distract them like crazy," she added with a wink.

A few hours later, Elle was winning her 4th straight game and was $100 bucks up. The guys she was playing against were starting to look extremely pissed from getting swindled out of all their money, so Bex grabbed Elle's arm, pulling her away as she counted her winnings.

"I believe that's our cue to leave," she said, giggling as they left the bar.

* * *

A couple weeks later, Elle was sitting behind the counter at the pawn shop while Bex was at home, nursing a hangover. Perks of being the owner. It had been a little over a month since Elle had moved to Charming and she was finding the small town, well, charming.

The neighborhood residents had begun to recognize Elle and would wave in greeting as they saw her walk past on her way to the shop in the mornings. The town was void of any big chains and corporations – almost all the businesses were locally owned and operated, which gave it a very classic Americana vibe. Growing up 30 miles away in Lodi, she had never had any reason to come into Charming, and even though it was so close, it felt like another world. Lodi was a typical town – starbucks on every corner, big walmart, the usual. Elle wondered what kept the chains from moving on in to Charming – they seemed to be taking over everywhere else.

In about the middle of her shift, the shop had emptied out and she was getting bored, so she grabbed her phone out of her purse with the full intention of playing angry birds, but somehow managing to get on facebook to check Clark's profile.

"Son of a bitch," she muttered, as Clark's profile popped up, claiming he was engaged to a girl named Susan Ashby. Elle frowned as she tried to place the name; she knew she'd heard it before. She clicked on the girl's profile and her eyes widened. She was one of the partners at his firm, "Son. Of. A. BITCH!" she bellowed, slamming her phone on the counter. She glanced down at her own engagement ring, still sitting on her finger – one of the few things she had taken with her when she left. Up until now, she hadn't had the heart to take it off, but now she ripped it angrily off her finger, tossing it on the counter.

It continued to sit there, staring at her, taunting her. She didn't know why she still had it. When Clark had kicked her out, he'd barely let her bring her clothes with her. She'd had nothing, and had had to spend her first pay check from the pawn shop replacing a lot of it. She quickly looked up the search about how much the ring was worth and decided right then and there to sell it to the shop.

"Hey, sweetheart," a voice said and Elle jumped in surprise. She hadn't heard anyone come in. She glanced up at the customer and tried to keep her jaw from dropping. The first thing she noticed was his cut with the Redwood Original patch on one side and the Sergeant At Arms patch on the other. Her eyes widened as she looked into one of the faces of SAMCRO.

"You're one of the Sons of Anarchy," she blurted out. He grinned, his eyes looking her up and down.

"Yeah, I know I am," he said, his eyes finally resting on her chest. Elle subconsciously tugged her v-neck tshirt down slightly to give him a better look as she stared at the member of the MC she'd been enamored with since high school.

"My name's Elle. My friend Bex has been trying to get me an invite to your parties for weeks," Elle told him.

"Your friend who?" he asked.

"Bex Manning," Elle told him, "She's been out there almost every night this month."

"Yeah, I'm not so good with names," he admitted.

"Oh you know, bleach blond hair, really tan, about yay high…" her voice trailed off as she held a hand up several inches above her head. He shook his head.

"Yeah, you're describing about half the girls at our parties, sweetheart," he said, grinning.

"She owns this shop," Elle said, hoping to trigger his memory.

"Oh yeah, that girl!" the biker said in recognition, "Her name's Bex? Huh. I always just call her Perky." Elle raised her eyebrows in surprise and he leaned over the counter.

"You know, cuz of her tits," he explained, "I mean have you seen those things? They're like up to here." He motioned to his shoulder as his eyes glazed over.

"Right," Elle said, not really knowing what else to say. He shook his head, returning his attention to Elle.

"So she's been trying to get you an invite, huh?" he asked, "Well, consider yourself officially invited." Elle grinned excitedly.

"Really?" she asked. He nodded.

"Sure thing, just tell 'em Tig invited you," he said. Elle nodded.

"Thanks, um, Tig!" she said, "So, what can I do for you?" Tig dropped a gun on the counter.

"I need to pawn this," he said, and Elle raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"You're pawning your gun?" she asked.

"Yeah, well, it's not like it's the only one I have," he responded gruffly.

"Yeah, but, you're the Sergeant at arms," she said, leaning over the counter, her eyes resting on the patch, "Doesn't that mean you'll, like, need it?" She asked, incredibly curious about the inner workings of SAMCRO.

Staring down her shirt, he said distractedly, "Yeah, well if you must know, I'm 3 months behind on my dues and my new president's giving me shit, so you gonna pawn it or what?" Elle nodded.

"Yeah, sure," she said, picking up the piece and examining it, "Um… this doesn't have any serial numbers on it."

"Yeah, I know that," he said exasperatedly.

"Well, I can't really take it if it doesn't have serial numbers on it," Elle said, "It's kind of against the law."

"Yeah, well I'm an outside – of – the – law kind of guy, sweetheart," he responded, "Perky always helps me out with those kinds of things. Half your back room is probably full of my shit."

"Man, we have the craziest stuff back three," she said, laughing, "Do you know, someone actually pawned a sex swing?"

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to pick that up," Tig said thoughtfully, "You want to try it out?" he asked suggestively. Elle laughed nervously, not really sure if he was joking or not.

"Um, maybe another time," she said and Tig shrugged.

"Suit yourself," he said, "So you gonna pawn that thing for me or what?" Elle hesitated.

"Well, I guess if Perky- I mean, Bex, does it for you, than I can help you out," she said, searching the computer to find out how much it's worth.

Tig took his money and grinned at her, heading out the shop. He paused at the door and turned around.

"I'll be seeing you tonight, right?" he asked. Elle nodded.

"Yeah, definitely!" she replied enthusiastically, "I'll be there."

"Awesome," he responded as he pushed the door open, "Well, see you tonight, Snow White." Elle frowned. The nickname wasn't new to her. Her short black hair, heart shaped face, pale skin, and red lips had also earned her that nickname back in high school. She wasn't eager for a repeat.

"It's Elle!" she called back to him. He waved his hand in the air, already walking away.

"I told you, I'm bad with names!" he called over his shoulder as the door swung shut behind him.

**A/N I went ahead and posted chapter 2 right away because I know chapter 1 is a lot of setting the story up. Please review! **


	2. mirror, mirror

**A/N This chapter is Elle's first SAMCRO party and her introduction to the life of a Croweater. I hope y'all like it! Again, much thanks to AFspouse for helping me work through all the ideas bouncing in my head! **

"I'm so excited you can finally come!" Bex exclaimed later that night as she and Elle were getting ready for Elle's first SAMCRO party together. As soon as Tig had left the shop that afternoon, Elle had immediately woken up a hungover Bex with a phone call letting her know she was finally in.

"I know me too," Elle agreed as they worked on their finishing touches. Bex was once again wearing an outfit showing a lot of skin and leaving little to the imagination. Wanting to fit in, Elle had followed suit, wearing a blue mini dress and heels.

"Do you know Tig calls you Perky?" Elle asked, and Bex laughed.

"I'm not surprised," she said, shaking her head, "I'm sure the only reason he has any name for me at all is because he's always coming in to the shop. Pretty sure he's called me a different name every time I've fucked him, now that I think about it." Elle gave her a sharp look.

"You've fucked that guy?" she asked. Bex grinned.

"Sure," she said, "Like I told you, I take care of them, they take care of me. Tig's one of my favorites, actually. He's a pretty freaky guy." Elle laughed, finishing up her makeup.

Bex and Elle arrived at the Teller-Morrow lot a few hours later, parking on the street. Walking in, they saw the party was already in full swing. The lot was full of people spilling out from inside, drinking, laughing, and cheering on a friendly boxing match going on in a ring off to the side of the lot.

"See the two guys in the ring?" Bex asked, pointing them out, "The one with his shirt off is Happy and the other one is Kip. Most people call him half-sack. They're both patched members."

"Half-sack?" Elle asked. Bex shook her head.

"You don't even wanna know," she said, shaking her head.

"They attached?" Elle asked, eyeing the half naked Happy.

"Half-sack's got an old lady, Cherry. She'll be around here somewhere. I'll introduce you. She started off as a sweet-butt at another MC in Nevada that eventually patched over, gives some of the Croweaters around here hope they'll become an old lady one of these days," Bex explained, "Happy's not, though. He's a little crazy, though, so be careful around him." Elle laughed and nodded as they continued on in, Bex pointing out different members in cuts and explaining who they were, as well as some of the Croweaters wandering around.

They stepped inside the clubhouse to see the party raging on. Elle looked around and watched as a woman with high-lighted brown wavy hair took a look at them from her seat at the bar and slid off it, heading in their direction, followed by a couple other scantily clad girls.

"Oh god, watch out," Bex mumbled under her breath, "Junkie whore is heading our way."

"Who is she?" Elle asked.

"Her name's Wendy. Thinks she's Queen B of the Croweaters just because she's been eating crow longer than most of us. She can be a real bitch," Bex said, plastering a smile on her face as Wendy stopped in front of us.

"Wendy! Hi!" Bex said, giving the girl a hug and looking behind her at the others, "Hey Leslie, Amy, Rhonda."

"Hi, Bex!" Leslie, a sweet looking blond girl said in a sing-song voice as she waved her hand, "Hi, new girl!"

"Hey Bex, who's your friend?" Wendy asked snidely, eyeing Elle up and down.

"This is Elle. Elle, Wendy," Bex said, introducing them.

"Bex, you know these parties are invite only," Wendy said, practically ignoring Elle after giving her a once-over.

"I was invited," Elle said. Wendy finally turned her attention to her.

"By who?" she asked, crossing her arms. As if in answer to her question, Tig walked up just then, clearly drunk and having the time of his life. He threw his arm around Elle's shoulder.

"Snow White, you made it!" he said, slapping a kiss on her cheek, "Wendy, go get the new girl a drink." Wendy stared at Tig for a second, looking shocked. She recovered quickly and plastered on a sweet smile.

"Oh no, it's okay, I'll get my own drink," Elle said quickly, not wanting to get on Queen B's bad side on the first night. She knew how things worked. She'd practically run her high school, and knew that an early bad impression on the Queen got you an automatic expulsion from the group.

"You want anything, Tig?" Bex practically purred. He nodded.

"Yeah, pull me a beer, will ya, doll?" he asked, giving her ass a squeeze as they walked towards the bar. A cute, tiny red head was sitting at the bar, chatting with the most intimidating older woman Elle had ever seen. Bex led Elle behind the bar and the girl looked up as the woman walked off after giving Elle a strong once-over.

"Oh, hey Bex!" she said, smiling.

"Hey, Cherry – I want you to meet my friend, Elle," Bex said. Elle reached her hand over the bar to shake Cherry's.

"Hey," she said.

"You're half-sack's old lady, right?" Elle asked. Cherry nodded.

"Yup, going on four years," she said happily, "You new around here? I don't think I've seen you around before."

"Yeah, I just moved to Charming about a month ago. This is my first SAMCRO party," Elle responded as she started to pour her beer. Cherry nodded and Elle joined her on her side of the bar while Bex ran to bring Tig his beer.

"So did Bex give you the rundown of the way things work around here?" Cherry asked her. Elle shrugged.

"Not really," she said.

"Well then, let me give you some advice. Follow it, and you'll do real good around here," Cherry said. Elle nodded, her full attention on Cherry.

"First don't ever question anything a patch asks you to do," she said, taking a sip of her beer, "I mean one of those guys asks you to jump, you don't even ask how high. You just jump as high as you fucking can, got it?" Elle nodded.

"My second piece of advice," Cherry continued, "Is don't let those girls run you over. The second they realize they can, you'll be finished around here. Wendy might be a bitch, but she's been around a long time and the guy's like her – know she'll show em a good time, if you know what I mean." I nodded as Bex came up to us.

"Fight's almost over, Cherry. Kip's asking for you," she said. Cherry nodded and slipped off her stool at the bar.

"It was nice to meet you, Elle," she said before turning to walk out the door. Elle spun around on the stool facing the room and Bex sat down next to her. Elle took a second to scan the room, her eyes landing on a few members sitting in a corner, girls hanging all over them. They all looked to be about early 30's, one with brown hair and a beard, another with a Mohawk running down the middle of his head, tattoos on either side, and the other with long blond hair. The blond was laughing at something the brunette on his lap had said, while the bearded one took a sip of his drink and the Mohawk guy, laughing, reached out and pulled one of the nearby girls onto his lap.

"Who are they?" she asked, recognizing the blond as one she'd seen riding his bike through Lodi a couple of times when she was in high school. At the time, she'd thought he was one of the cutest guys she'd ever seen and had been wild with jealousy of the brunette girl wrapped around him on the back of his bike. But now, seeing him up close, she realized he was downright sexy. And apparently still with the same lucky girl, if Elle's memory served.

"Oh the one on the right is Opie Winston. He's the new VP. God I've been trying to get with him since I started hanging around here, but it's been damn near impossible, especially since he got the position," Bex said wistfully, "The one with the Mohawk is Juice. He's actually a pretty sweet guy for being a tough biker dude. The blond one is Jax Teller, the Prince of Charming. He's the new president. Used to be his step-dad, Clay, but he had to step down cuz of the arthritis in his hands. He can't really ride anymore, and if you can't ride, you can't lead."

"The girl on his lap his old lady?" Elle asked, eyeing the brunette as she wrapped her arms around the Prince of Charming, pulling him in for a kiss.

"Oh, yeah. That's Tara Knowles. She's a doctor over at St. Thomas. Every croweater in this place is just waiting for Tara to step out of the picture so they can swoop in. They're like fucking vultures, man. Word's been getting around that Tara and Jax have been having some issues, and they're all just chomping at the bit, hoping to get a piece of the new prez," Bex explained. Elle nodded as she continued watching them. Opie turned his head, catching Elle staring at him and she looked away quickly, turning back to Bex.

"Let's get some shots," Bex said, swinging her legs over the bar and hopping down on the other side.

After taking a couple shots, Elle looked around the room again to watch a couple guys playing pool at the table in the corner of the room. She rolled her eyes as one of them missed an easy ball, knowing she could beat him with her eyes closed.

"Do you think they'd let me play?" she asked Bex. Bex turned her head to watch the guys playing and shrugged.

"They're just hang-arounds," she said, "They'll probably let you play just to watch you bend over the table in that dress." Elle grinned and Bex followed her over to the table.

"Hey guys," Elle said, watching one of them sink the 8 ball. He glanced up when it was over and grinned.

"Hey, baby," he said, sauntering over to her.

"I was wondering if I could try a round next game?" Elle said, grinning flirtatiously at him. He raised his eyebrows, glancing over at his friend, who shrugged.

"Sure thing," he said, grinning at her, his eyes darkening as he looked her up and down, "You sure you know how to handle a stick this big?" Elle laughed at the bad joke.

"Oh I've been known to find my way around them," she said, taking the offered cue stick from him as he turned to re-rack the balls.

* * *

"Hey, who's the girl at the pool table?" Opie asked, "She's kicking that guy's ass. You guys seen her around before?" Juice and Jax turned their heads to see a small girl with short black hair and a pale complexion bend over the table lining up her next shot. Her dress rose and they all tilted their heads, watching. Jax shook his head.

"Nah, man. I don't think she's a croweater," he commented. Opie pursed his lips.

"Not yet," he said as the annoying girl on his lap tried to get his attention.

"I think she's Bex's friend," Juice said.

"Who?" Opie asked.

"Bex, the croweater standing next to her. She's been trying to get her friend an invite for a while now, that must be her," Juice said.

"How the hell do you know all that?" Jax asked. Juice shrugged.

"I have this weird rule where I try to listen to what girls are saying before I fuck them," he said. Jax shook his head.

"Poor guy," he said.

"I don't have that rule," Opie said, his eyes still on the girl.

"Looks like she's the shiny new toy," Tara commented as they watched Kozik walk up to her at the pool table. She rested her cue stick on the ground, holding it with both hands, while Kozik tried to chat her up. Her opponent was lining up his next shot, and Opie watched as she walked around the table towards the ball he was trying to hit. She casually bent over the pool table, her boobs practically spilling out of her dress and causing him to miss the shot. She smiled as she walked around the table to take her turn. Opie chuckled at her obvious manipulation as Tig walked over, collapsing into the seat next to him.

"I see you've noticed the new girl," he said, "I invited her. God I can't wait to fuck that young, tight, pussy," he said wistfully, "I'm thinkin I could probably talk her friend into joining us, a twofer kinda deal."

"Yeah, well perks of the position is I get first dibs," Opie said.

"Fuckin abusing your power already," Tig said, turning to look at Jax, "You gonna let that happen?" Jax shrugged.

"You know how it works, man. There's plenty other pussy in here for you," he said as Opie stood up, causing the girl on his lap to topple over onto the ground, swearing at him. He stepped over her and walked over to the pool table.

* * *

Wendy watched Opie walk over to where Elle was playing pool, her eyes narrowed. In a huff, she stormed off to the bathroom, Leslie, Amy, and Rhonda following behind her. She dug her makeup out of her bag and walked up to the mirror.

She studied her face in the mirror. She was definitely starting to show her 31 years, and she knew her drug habit wasn't helping. Her skin had started to yellow and her teeth weren't as white as they used to be.

"Am I pretty?" she asked the girls standing around her.

"Oh yeah, Wendy, you're gorgeous, don't even worry," Amy said encouragingly.

"Am I prettier than _her?_" Wendy asked.

"Than who?" Rhonda asked.

"The new girl," Wendy said, still staring at her face in the mirror.

"Oh no, she looks like a princess!" Leslie said in her usual sing song voice. Amy slapped her upside the head as Wendy frowned.

"Shut up," Amy hissed. Wendy turned around to look at the girls.

"That bitch is going down," Wendy said.

"Why's she a bitch? Cuz she's prettier than you?" Leslie asked. This would have gotten anybody else a slap in the face, but Wendy had long suspected that Leslie was a little touched in the head, so she let it slide with an angry look as they stalked out of the bathroom.

* * *

"Holy shit, don't look now but Opie's coming over here," Elle whispered to Bex, whose eyes widened as she turned to see the hulking form of Opie swagger towards them. He jerked his head at Kozik who glared at him, swore, and walked off to find another girl to keep him company for the evening.

"Bex, right?" he said, and Bex nodded slowly, "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Elle," she said. Opie grinned at Elle, extending his hand which she took.

"Opie," he said. She smiled up at him, subconsciously licking her lips, her eyes lingering on the V. President patch on his cut that immediately sent heat rushing through her body before her eyes made it up to his face. She'd never known a piece of clothing could turn her on that much.

"Nice to meet you," she said. He glanced down at the table where 6 balls remained, the 8 ball and 5 solids.

"You stripes?" he asked and Elle laughed, nodding. Opie looked over at the hang-around, clutching his cue stick and looking mutinous over losing to a girl on front of the club. Elle stepped up to the table and Opie watched her figure out how to sink the 8 ball. It was going to be a tricky shot – she'd have to bank the cue ball off the edge to cause the 8 ball to bank in the direction of the corner pocket. She walked over to check the angle, bending down to look at the balls on the table. Opie stared at her ass, urging her dress to ride up a little higher and feeling his jeans tighten as his dick hardened. Elle finally stepped up and took her shot, expertly sinking the ball. She pumped her fist in the air, grinning victoriously as the hang around swore and dropped his cue stick on the table, turning around and sulking off.

Opie was impressed, a feeling no croweater had ever inspired in him before. He slung his arm around her shoulder, whispering in her ear as he jerked his head for Bex to get lost. She grinned at Elle, wriggling her eyebrows suggestively, before walking off to find Tig. Before Bex could look behind her, Opie had taken Elle's hand and was leading her to the dorm rooms in back. Bex noticed Gemma Teller-Morrow, Jax's mother and surrogate mother to most of the members of SAMCRO, watching them go, an appraising look upon her face.

**A/N what do y'all think so far? Like it? Love it? hate it? (I hope not!) Please review! I could probably post the next chapter tomorrow if I get enough reviews and know y'all want to read more! There will be a couple "adult situations" in chapter 3**


	3. Into the black forest

**A/N Thanks so much for all the reviews! Feedback is always appreciated! **

**A reminder that this story is completely AU! I've taken a lot of liberties with the Croweaters and their dynamics with each other, but tried my best to keep true to the original characters, as they're so amazing, obviously. **

**Also, this story is rated M for a reason: some language and adult content**

"I can't fucking believe you fucked Ope on your first night," Bex said, sighing with jealousy. She threw herself down on the couch in the living room while Elle curled up in the recliner, grinning, "I've been trying to get in that man's pants for a year!" Bex stuck her head over the arm of the couch to look at her.

"I know, I can't either, actually," Elle admitted, "That's the first guy I've slept with in 8 years that isn't Clark." Bex shrugged.

"Well good for you – like I said, you need to loosen up a little," she said. Elle shrugged.

"I suppose so, but this isn't high school anymore, Bex," Elle responded to her. Bex waved her hand, as if waving the words away.

"Yeah, it's better than high school," she said, grinning. Elle had to admit it was nice to suddenly have all of this freedom to do whatever she wanted. 8 years with Clark and she'd almost forgotten who she was. She almost felt like she was leaving her parents for the first time and discovering her new found freedom.

"So, how was it?" Bex asked eagerly. Elle laughed.

"Amazing," she responded truthfully, "Except at one point he called me Donna."

"Hmmm that's his dead wife's name," Bex said, "You do kinda look like her, actually."

"Oh God," Elle said, "When did she die?"

"Oh like 3 years ago. He's still so beat up about it, though. Hasn't been with anyone seriously since," Bex said.

"That's so sad," Elle said. Bex nodded. The girls sat in silence for a few minutes before Bex finally broke it.

"So there's gonna be another party on Friday," she announced.

"Really?" Elle asked. Bex nodded.

"Yeah, Cherry texted me about an hour ago to let me know. Apparently you were quite a hit last night. Pretty sure Tig called me Snow White a couple times last night while I was fucking him," she said laughing, "And he hinted pretty heavily this morning that I should plant the idea in your head for a threesome."

"Oh God, not gonna happen!" Elle said, breaking into a fit of laughter.

"I can't believe your old nick-name's back," Bex said.

"I know! It found me again," Elle said, sighing.

SOASOASOASOA

Elle sat at the pawn shop a couple of days later trying to work a customer down on the price of a baseball card he was trying to sell. When they finally arrived at a price they could both agree on, the customer left with his money and Elle set the card aside to price and stock later. With that customer gone, the store was empty again– they usually didn't get very many customers coming in in the morning – and it was the time Elle hated most of all.

She hated it because it gave her time to dwell on her life and her past with Clark, and she always got a sick feeling in her stomach when she thought about all that had happened. In high school, Elle had been on top of the world – head cheerleader, tons of friends, boys scrambling to get with her. And then she had met Clark. He was a law student, so charming, so handsome, so much better than the "high school boys" Elle had been wasting her time with, and she completely fell into their relationship.

Once he had gotten the job in Modesto, she hadn't thought twice about moving with him. She gave up her whole life, all of her friends, who she was, to that relationship. She never realized how stifling her life with Clark had been until it was over. And 8 years later, without so much as an "I'm sorry," he had told her that they were over, that he'd been seeing someone on the side for a while, and that she needed to get out.

Elle sighed heavily as, glutton for punishment as she was, she looked over Susan Ashby's profile on her phone, proudly proclaiming her engagement to Clark Monahan. Susan was everything Elle wasn't – smart, successful, professional. Someone Clark could show off to his friends instead of someone he tried to hide. As she looked through all their pictures together, she got angrier and angrier until she finally had to throw her phone down in disgust.

Well if Clark was going to move on so quickly, so was Elle. And she had an entire motorcycle club to sink into. Maybe if she sunk far enough, she'd finally be able to forget about him.

SOASOASOASOA

The party was, once again, in full swing that night. It had been a week since Elle's first SAMCRO party, and she recognized a lot of familiar faces as she and Bex made their way to the bar.

"Hey Bex, pull me a beer!" Juice said, sitting down at the bar. Bex flashed a sexy grin at him and set the beer down in front of him. Juice glanced over at Elle standing next to Bex and held his hand out, "Juice," he said as Elle took his hand and shook it.

"Elle," she said.

"Glad to see you're back, Elle," he said, grinning at her. She smiled back, unaware that he'd noticed her the night before.

"Well I couldn't miss it, now could I?" she asked. He laughed and shook his head.

"I'm goin in the ring in a few minutes, you should come watch," he said. Elle nodded.

"Who are you fighting?" she asked.

"Happy," he said. Elle's eyes widened and he laughed, "That's why I need you out there –be my lucky charm," he said with a wink.

"I don't know if I have that much luck in me!" she said, "I saw him fighting Half-sack last night, he looked a little crazy."

"Well if I win, you'll be my lucky charm, and if I lose, we can play doctor," he said, grinning. Elle laughed and nodded.

"I can live with that," she said, her eyes roaming over the hot biker's body, her nerves threatening to overwhelm her. She took another shot to settle them and Juice winked at her again before walking outside to catch the end of the last match.

"Good God, girl," Bex said, "Most of the girls have to throw themselves at those guys to get that kind of attention." Elle shrugged.

"Well, I don't play that way," she said, grinning and taking a sip of her beer. Bex's grin faded as she looked into the crowd.

"Oh God, don't look now but junkie whore is comin in fast," Bex muttered, forcing a huge fake smile on her face as Wendy strode up to the bar, an equally huge, equally fake smile plastered across her face.

"Bex, Elle!" she said in greeting as she sat back down at the bar, "So glad you guys could make it again tonight." Elle exchanged glances with Bex before smiling back at Wendy.

"Thanks?" Elle said questioningly. Wendy smiled sweetly at Elle before leaning over the bar.

"Listen, I know you're new, so maybe no one explained to you the way things work around here. We've got a hierarchy system in place here, and that would put me at the top. I mean, you can see that it's not exactly fair of you to just waltz in and take the VP on your first night without running it by me first," She tilted her head, that sweet smile still stretched across her face, "Understand, honey?" Elle straightened up, keeping her voice as light and airy as Wendy's.

"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry," she responded, "I had no idea that when the VP walked up to _me_ and started whispering in _my _ear all the dirty things he wanted to do to me, that I should've told him that I needed to clear it with you first." Wendy's eyes narrowed, knowing if that happened word would get around quickly that she was trying to cock block the sons, which would be tantamount to losing her invite to the parties. She recovered quickly, though, putting her smile back in place.

"Look, some of us have been paying their dues a long time, and we deserve some respect. Just don't go flashing your ass and teasing the guys that some of us should have first pick over. Especially the officers," she said.

"Honey, if you thought that was teasing, you ain't seen nothing yet," Elle said, a smirk on her face and her arms crossed. The smile dropped from Wendy's face and she stood there, glaring at Elle, before turning her attention to Bex.

"Oh, by the way Bex, Gemma told me to make sure Bobby found some comfort tonight. That's on you," she said snidely. Bex groaned.

"Seriously, Wendy?" she said. Wendy shrugged.

"Maybe when you're writhing under his big, sweaty body, you'll be thinking twice about bringing your little friend with you to the next party," she said, before stalking back to her group of croweaters.

"God she's a nightmare," Elle grumbled as Bex nodded, "Come on, let's go watch Juice's fight." Bex shook her head.

"Apparently I've gotta go find Bobby," she muttered.

"What? You've seriously gotta do what she says?" Elle asked incredulously.

"I've gotta do what Gemma says," Bex corrected her.

"Who's Gemma?" Elle asked. Bex looked around, pointing out the intimidating looking woman Elle had seen talking to Cherry the night before.

"Gemma Teller-Morrow, ex- president's wife, current president's mother. She pretty much runs shit around here," Bex explained. Gemma turned her head to look at Elle, an unreadable expression across her face, as Bex found Bobby and sat herself on his lap, throwing her arms around him. Elle grabbed her drink and headed outside, forcing her way through the huge crowd congregated around the ring to where Juice was standing, surrounded by Jax, Chibs, and Half-sack.

"My lucky charm!" Juice exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Elle's shoulder, "I can go in now." Elle laughed as Juice kissed her cheek before hopping into the ring with a frightening looking Happy. She turned to watch the fight, trying not to be distracted by the tall blond standing next to her, his arms crossed.

She would probably never forget the first time she had seen him. It was 9 or 10 years ago and she was walking home from cheerleading practice with Bex and a few of the other cheerleaders, pom poms in her hand and talking excitedly about which football player was hotter than which when she heard the roar of a motorcycle come up behind them.

Elle glanced over, nearly walking into a pole as she watched the sexy biker, long blond hair waving in the wind under his helmet, pull up to a stop sign.

"Nice bike!" she'd called as he turned his head in her direction. He'd smirked and she thought her heart might have stopped right them.

"Nice… pom poms," he'd called back, staring pointedly at her tits. She'd laughed and he took off again. She hadn't known his name, or anything else about him except what the cut on his back had proudly proclaimed- that he was a member of the Sons of Anarchy. Over the course of the next couple of years, she'd seen him and few of the other members running through town. Sometimes he was alone, others he had the same girl, who Elle now knew was Tara, perched on the back of his bike, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. She had developed quite the school girl crush on him, and now that she finally got to meet him, it was definitely more than a little annoying that he was still with that same girl.

He glanced her way and she could feel his eyes on her. She looked over at him, returning his smile.

"I'm Jax," he said, leaning down towards her so she could hear him over the roar of the crowd.

"Elle" she responded, trying hard to tear her eyes off of his gorgeous face to pay attention to what was going on in the ring. Jax gave up first, turning his head back to watch the match. Elle gave one final glance at him, her eyes lingering on the president patch on his cut, before watching Juice get a good right hook into Happy's face, and he went down.

Elle cheered with the rest of the crowd as Juice pumped his fists in the air, before climbing out of the ring and walking up to her, sweaty and bloody but grinning like an idiot. Chibs handed him a towel and he wiped his face off.

"So how'd I do?" he asked, still grinning as he handed the towel back to Chibs.

"Amazing!" Elle replied. Juice slung his arm around her, bringing his mouth to her ear.

"So I know I won and everything, but we can still play doctor," he whispered, and Elle laughed, nodding. She ignored the voice in the back of her head telling her two different guys two weekends in a row was probably extremely self-destructive behavior in her attempt to forget Clark, and instead basked in the attention she was getting.

"Whatever you want, champ," she replied. She could've sworn Jax's eyes were following them as Juice pulled her through the crowd and into the clubhouse to one of the dorms rooms in the back. He unlocked the door and opened it, following Elle inside. Elle pushed herself against him, running her hands underneath his cut before slipping it off him, kissing along his jawline and down to his neck.

"Where does it hurt?" she murmured into his ear. He leaned his head back against the wall, grabbing her hand and placing it on his package. She slowly massaged it and felt it grow under her hands.

"Just right there, babe," he said, "Think you can fix it for me?" She grinned as she undid his belt buckle and zipper, pushing his jeans and boxers down to the floor and she sunk onto her knees. She took his dick in her hand, stroking it slowly before taking the head in her mouth, her tongue rolling around it. She wrapped her lips around his dick, bobbing her head while her hand continued to pump. She reached her other hand up, cupping his balls and he groaned.

"Fuck yeah," he sighed through gritted teeth as he looked down at her bobbing on his rod, gripping her hair on the back of her head and gently pushing her farther down. She looked up at him and the sight of her big blue eyes and round, innocent face, her red lips wrapped his dick, almost made him cum right there. He quickly shoved her off his dick and lifted her shirt up and over her head as she reached behind to take off her bra. He took in the sight of her, naked from the waist up, the nipples of her c-cup tits standing at attention, before ripping his shirt off and tossing it aside. He pulled her closer to him, taking a breast in his mouth while his hand cupped the other one. She moaned as his tongue licked her nipple and he yanked her skirt down, along with her thong. Pushing her back on the bed, he crawled on top of her, sliding a condom on, and entered her fully in one thrust.

She gasped as he pulled her leg up at the knee and she wrapped it around him, gripping his ass with her hands and pulling him towards her as he pounded her pussy. She arched her back, hands raised above her gripping the blanket as she felt her body spasm. Juice groaned as he felt her clamp down around his dick and spilled his load as she came.

He collapsed on top of her, catching his breath, before rolling over, pulling her with him. She lay there for several minutes more as her heart rate returned to normal and then stood up, collecting her clothes. Juice propped himself up on one arm, watching her get dressed and then lay back on his bed, closing his eyes.

"Thanks, doc," he mumbled sleepily as she walked towards the door. She smiled, turning back to him.

"Anytime," she said, closing the door behind her.

SOASOASOA

"So who you going after tonight?" Elle asked Bex as they stood behind the bar, surveying the crowd at the latest SAMCRO party.

About two months had passed and Elle was into the rhythm of the life of a croweater. The parties every weekend and random hook ups with one of the Sons most nights were serving her well in her ambition to shove Clark to the back of her mind. She continued to set herself apart from the other croweaters by refusing to follow their examples. She went to the parties to have fun, and if a member of SAMCRO wanted to fuck her, that was fine by her. But she didn't throw herself at them as so many of the other girls did. If they wanted to get with her, they had to come to her. And they always did.

All but one, anyway. Jax and Tara were technically still together, but she'd stopped coming around to the parties. When she wasn't there, Jax generally sat in a booth in the corner with a bottle of Jack and Wendy, who continued to throw herself shamelessly at him every chance she could get with Tara not around.

"Hmmm, probably Tig," Bex said in answer to her question, scanning the crowd. She spotted Tig sitting at a table with Happy, a croweater perched on his lap. The croweater hopped up to head to the bar, Tig slapping her ass as she walked away, and Bex grabbed her hand.

"Come on, there's an opening," she said grinning and she pulled Elle over to the table. Bex slung herself on Tig and he wrapped his arms around her as she nibbled on his ear. Elle took a seat next to him and he turned to look over at her.

While they were talking, Elle continued to throw glances in Jax's direction. He hadn't moved, and Wendy was still throwing herself at him, trying to get him to pay attention to her. Elle barely noticed when Happy said something to her.

"Hmm, sorry, what'd you say?" she asked, turning back to look at Happy, who had his hand on her thigh. Happy brought her into the conversation and she tried to focus on him, but couldn't help letting her mind wander to Jax.

Gemma watched the new girl from across the room as she sat with Bex, Happy, and Tig. Happy turned to her, pulling her into the conversation, which Gemma thought was strange. For one, she'd never seen Happy strike up a conversation with any girl. For another, the guys didn't have to work to get pussy in this place. They didn't have to flirt, or sweet talk, or buy drinks. So what was it about this girl that had them working for it?

She continued to watch as Elle snuck stolen glances at Jax before turning back to tell Bex a story. After several minutes, Happy and Tig had finished their conversation and Happy leaned over, whispering in Elle's ear as Elle giggled, nodding.

"Just a minute," Elle said as Happy took her hand and stood up, turning her attention back to Bex. Gemma raised her eyebrows as she watched Happy give Elle a What the Fuck look.

"You're gonna get laid, Hap, just let me finish my story," she said, turning back to Bex to finish what she was saying. Happy scowled, crossing his arms, but to Gemma's utter surprise, stood there and waited for her to finish her story. Bex laughed when she'd finished and Elle stood up as Happy slung his arm around her shoulder. She leaned up, kissing his neck as they stumbled to the rooms in the back. Gemma watched her go, her lips pursed, and her eyebrows raised. In the short time the new girl had been hanging around, she'd someone managed to get these boys in line. She'd managed to fuck nearly every available member of SAMCRO while continuing to hold their respect. She shook her head. 'That girl should not be a fucking croweater,' she thought, before turning her attention on her son.

Tara had skipped out on the last several parties and Gemma knew she and Jax were on the outs. It was only a matter of time before she skipped out of town, leaving Jax to fall apart just as he had the last time she'd left. Only this time it was different. This time it would be the president of SAMCRO falling apart, which could lead the club to call for an officer's challenge and Jax could possibly lose the position he'd worked so hard for. Gemma couldn't let that happen.

She'd seen the new girl giving her son those puppy dog eyes, glaring daggers at Wendy every time she threw herself all over Jax at the parties that Tara was not in attendance at. She knew what those looks meant. Gemma wasn't about to let Wendy swoop in and pick up the pieces when Tara finally split. She'd need a plan.

Happy finally managed to get the door open with Elle sucking gently on his neck and they stumbled into the room. Backed up against the wall, he pushed her down to her knees in front of him as she quickly unzipped his pants, releasing his rock hard cock. She took it into her mouth, her tongue running around the tip and down the length before taking him all in, letting it hit the back of throat.

Happy ran his hands through her hair before cupping the back of her head, slamming himself into her mouth. When he felt like he was starting to lose control, he grabbed her hair, ripping her off him and tossing her back on the bed. He stepped out of his jeans and took his shirt off, walking towards her.

"Take your clothes off," he growled, and she quickly complied as he grabbed a condom from the bedside table. He grabbed her legs, pulling her to the edge of the bed before flipping her over and lifting her ass so she was on all fours. He quickly slid the condom on and gripped her hips, groaning as he slid into her. She gasped as he continued to pound into her until he felt his release building. He quickened his pace and grunted as he came.

He slid out of her and slapped her ass before tossing the condom and lying down on the bed.

"Thanks babe," he said, rolling over, "You can leave now." Elle smirked as she stood up.

"Can I at least get dressed first?" she asked.

"Tig'll be disappointed if you do, but I guess it's all right with me," he said, turning his head to take a last look at her naked body before she picked her clothes up off the floor and hurriedly put them on. She ran her fingers through her hair to make sure it wasn't too tangled before walking out the door, closing it behind her.

**A/N please review! I worked really really hard on this chapter and have been playing around with it for the past 4 days or so, so I really want to know what y'all thought! Again, feedback is always appreciated! **


	4. The real Queen's advice

Elle's phone rang as she and Bex sat in their living room, watching TV. It'd been a week since the Sons had had a party, and Elle found she really didn't know what to do with all the free time. She reached over to grab the ringing phone, glancing at the caller ID.

"It's Juice," she said, raising her eyebrows in surprise. She'd given her number to him a couple of weeks ago because he said he'd wanted to have it in case there were any smaller, more exclusive parties at the clubhouse, but as they'd just finished having sex when he asked for it, she hadn't really expected him to call.

"Hello?" she said as she answered.

"Hey, Elle, it's Juice," he said, "We're having a low-key night tonight, just some of us hanging out at the clubhouse, I wanted to let you know."

"Sounds fun! I'll be there," Elle responded, "Can Bex come, too?" Juice paused for a second.

"Yyeah… I guess that'd be okay," he said.

"Great! We'll see you tonight," she said, hanging the phone up and relaying the message to Bex, who grinned broadly.

"I knew there would be perks to being your friend!" she said jokingly as they both got up to figure out what to wear. Since it was more of a low key night, they both decided on jeans and tank tops.

They arrived at the clubhouse later that night, and it felt strange to be there when the place was so empty.

"I've never seen it so quiet," Bex said as they walked through the parking lot and into the clubhouse.

As soon as they walked in, Wendy walked directly up to them, hands on her hips.

"You probably were unaware, but this is a closed party. Just a few girls invited," she said snidely.

"Yeah, us," Elle said, pushing her way past Wendy.

"Who the hell invited you two?" she asked.

"What are you?" Bex responded, "The invitation police? Juice called and invited us." Wendy's eyes narrowed as she looked back and forth between Elle and Bex.

"Just remember what I told you, new girl. No rubbing up on _my_ guys," she said threateningly as she walked off to a booth Leslie and Amy were sitting at.

"Hi Bex! Hi Elle! You look pretty!" Leslie called to them, smiling at them and waving. Wendy slapped her hand down as she sat at the booth and Bex and Elle waved back, laughing. Walking up to the bar, Elle glanced around, noticing the absence of the Sons. They strode up to where Cherry was perched on a stool at the bar.

"Where is everyone?" Elle asked as she grabbed a beer from behind the counter. Cherry pointed to the double doors on the other side of the room.

"Church, Jax called a meeting. They've been in there awhile, shouldn't be much longer," she said. As if on cue, the doors opened and the guys filed out, some grumbling but most looking pretty cheerful. Even Jax was grinning as he walked out with Opie. Elle didn't think she'd seen a genuine smile on Jax's face in months.

One of the guys put some music on and most of the girls lounging around shot up, either dancing or running to see if any of the guys needed drinks as Juice, Opie, and Jax walked over to the pool table and started racking up a game.

"So what are we doing, 9 ball?" Juice asked after a croweater had brought them a round of drinks. Jax shook his head.

"Nah, let's do teams. Find a fourth," he said. Juice glanced up and looked around the clubhouse.

"Hey, Elle!" he called. Elle looked over from where she was standing at the bar to see Juice waving her over. She glanced back to see Wendy fuming as she sat at her table with Leslie and Amy. Elle wouldn't be surprised to see smoke start steaming from her ears. Elle grinned and walked over to where Juice stood with Opie and Jax, casually swinging her hips as she walked.

"Yeah?" she said.

"You wanna play?" he asked. Jax frowned.

"I said find a fourth, not find a chick, idiot," he said. Elle put her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised as she looked up at him. He had to be almost a foot taller than her.

"Seriously, brother, she's the best player in this place. She'll be on my team if you're so worried about it," Juice said. Jax took a lingering look at Elle and finally shrugged.

"Whatever," he said as he walked around to break, Elle watching as he bent over the table and put all his weight into the stick as he shoved it forward. He looked over at her, smirking cockily as he caught her subconsciously licking her lips.

"Ladies first," he said, stepping out of her way so she could take the next shot.

Elle might have been good, but Jax and Opie were good, too, so Elle decided to stop relying on skill alone and use some of the other tricks she had up her sleeve.

"I don't think I've ever said this in my life, but you're gonna need to stop flashing those tits," Jax said as he missed his shot, distracted by Elle bending over the table not so subtly, directly in his line of vision. She laughed and shrugged.

"Why? Am I messing you up?" she asked flirtatiously, moving around the table to take her turn.

He grinned as he watched her sink 4 balls in a row before missing a shot, his eyebrows raised in surprise. While it was Opie's turn, Jax leaned against a table next to Elle.

"So I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to you before," he said. She smiled at him.

"I didn't get the impression that you did much talking with croweaters," she said, glancing back at Wendy who was giving her a look that would've stopped her heart if looks could. Jax looked over his shoulder at her and chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess that's usually true," he said, "So what brought you to Charming?" he asked. Elle shrugged. The only person that really knew the full story was Bex, and she preferred to keep it that way.

"Oh you know, change of scenery," she said vaguely, "I grew up not too far from here, out in Lodi." He raised his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah? I used to go into Lodi all the time," he said. She felt heat rise to her face and cursed herself for being so pale that it made it that much more obvious when she was blushing.

"Yeah, I know," she admitted, "I used to see you ride your bike around town." He grinned, looking down at her, but before he could respond, Tig walked up and tapped him on the shoulder, pointing to the front door.

"Who's the suit?" he asked. Elle and Jax turned around and Elle's jaw nearly dropped. Her heart skipped a beat as she watched Clark Monahan, her ex-fiance, walk through the doors of the SAMCRO clubhouse. Why is he here? Does he want her back? Did he finally come back to his senses? She glanced over at Jax, suddenly conflicted. Did she want Clark to want her back?

She reached her hand up to her hair, smoothing it down quickly before rushing up to him.

"Hi, Clark," she said smiling up at him. He didn't return the smile.

"Hey, I see you've really classed it up haven't you?" he asked, sneering as he looked around the clubhouse. Her heart seemed to sink into her stomach as she looked into his angry face. Clearly he did not come to his senses and he does not want her back.

"What are you even doing here? How did you find me?" she asked, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice.

"I went by the pawn shop and some guy at the counter told me I could probably find you here," he said, "And I'm here because I want the ring back."

"Excuse me?" she said quietly, hoping to keep the conversation from being overheard.

"I said I want my fucking ring back," he repeated fiercely.

"I…I don't have it," she said, "I sold it." She'd given herself a great deal for it, too.

"What the fuck, Lauren?" he screamed at her, "That wasn't yours to sell!"

Juice, Opie, and Jax had all put their cue sticks down, watching the scene unfold.

"Who's Lauren?" Tig asked, pulling up a chair and sitting in it backwards.

"I'm guessing that's what Elle is short for," Jax muttered, his arms crossed as he looked between Elle and the guy in the suit, waiting to step in if needed.

"Her name's Elle?" Tig asked, confused.

"And _I'm _the idiot?" Juice asked as Tig reached out to slap him upside the head. Jax wasn't paying attention. His sole focus was on Elle and the guy currently screaming in her face. He didn't know why, but he felt a sense of protectiveness over her.

Elle backed up a step from Clark, taking a look around the clubhouse and realizing he was causing a scene and people were starting to notice. She gripped his arm.

"Come on, let's talk about this outside," she said, keeping her voice low. Wendy was grinning like a kid on Christmas and Elle didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing her reamed by her ex. And she especially didn't want Jax, or any of the rest of the sons for that matter, to see the show. Clark jerked his arm out of her grip, causing her to stumble slightly.

"No, we're gonna fucking talk about it right here! What do you think gave you the right to sell that ring?" he asked angrily.

"Clark, that ring was all I had. I had nothing when you kicked me out. I barely had enough gas in my car to make it up to Charming," Elle said, continuing to keep her voice low.

"Yeah, well maybe that's because everything was mine, you worthless piece of trash!" he shouted, "What did you ever contribute?" Elle narrowed her eyes, glaring at him.

"Nothing, because of YOU. I didn't get a job, because of YOU. I didn't go to school, because of YOU. I have absolutely zero skills or work experience now, because of YOU. Because of the promises YOU made to me. What the fuck was I supposed to do?" she asked, begging the tears stinging her eyes not to fall, "And then you cheated on me and kicked me out with NOTHING!" He gripped her arms pulling her up to him.

"I wasted 8 fucking years supporting your cheap ass," he growled in her face, "And now you're telling me you sold a $20,000 ring?"

"Hey man, I think it's time for you to leave," Elle turned her head to see Jax walking up to them, looking menacing.

"You'll get your whore back when I'm through with her," Clark barked at Jax as a traitor tear ran down Elle's cheek. Jax broke Clark's grip on Elle, causing Clark to stumble back as Jax pulled Elle out of the way. Clark ran at Jax, sucker-punching him in the face. He clearly couldn't pack a very large punch as Jax barely stumbled, and the only purpose it served was to really piss him off. Jax shook his head, chuckling slightly, before turning to Clark and punching him square in the jaw. Clark went down and immediately every Son in the room got up to get their president's back. They were a pretty menacing crowd, lined up behind him, arms crossed and glaring.

Clark stood up, looking between Elle and the Sons gathered behind Jax, and started backing out of the door.

"I always knew you'd turn out to be a white trash whore," he spat at Elle, before turning and walking out the door. Elle shuddered, clutching her stomach and wiping the tears from her face.

"Hey, darlin'," Jax said, slinging his arm around her shoulder, "You alright?" Elle nodded, taking a deep breath to make sure she wouldn't start crying.

"Yeah, Look I'm sorry I caused such a scene," she said, completely mortified at everything Clark had said to her and the fact that everyone was there to see it, "I had no idea he would turn up here. I'm-I'm just gonna go."

"You don't have to go," Jax said, but Elle shook her head.

"Yeah, yeah I need to go," she repeated looking around for Bex, who came running. She took a final look at Jax and said, "Thanks, you know, for that." Bex threw an arm around her shoulder and they walked out together.

Wendy ran up to Jax as soon as Bex and Elle were out of sight, sliding her arm through his.

"That girl's been causing a lot of drama, Jax. I wouldn't think you'd want that in your clubhouse," she said, glancing up at him. Her glared down at her.

"It's not up to you what goes on in MY clubhouse. You're just a fucking croweater that thinks she's Queen of the goddamn kingdom. You do not run shit around here – got it?" he asked. Wendy unhooked her arm from his, looking hurt.

"Jax, I just meant-" she started.

"I know what the fuck you meant. Go, I'll let you know if I need you around," he said, and she walked sulkily back to her table.

Gemma walked up to Jax, arms crossed.

"What was that all about?" she asked, motioning to the doors Elle and Bex had just walked through.

"I dunno, I guess that guy was her ex, wanted something back from her," Jax said dismissively.

"Yeah, I got that. I mean what was you jumping in saving the day all about?" she asked. Jax looked at her.

"He was causing a scene," he said. Gemma eyed him.

"Last week some guy showed up screaming at Amy. You just yelled at them to take it outside," she said.

"This was different, okay, ma," he said.

"Mmmhmm," Gemma replied knowingly. Jax rolled his eyes at her.

"She's just a croweater," he told her.

"Baby, I think you and I both know that's not exactly true," she said. Jax shook his head and walked back to finish his game with Juice and Opie.

SOASOASOASOASOA

The next day, Bex decided to give her and Elle the day off and they went to get their nails done.

"How you holding up?" Bex asked her, concerned, as they drove to the salon. Elle shook her head. She had been thinking of the events of the previous day non-stop since it happened and realized she was more upset about getting embarrassed in front of Jax than she was about Clark flipping out on her. The horrible things he had said to her had hurt, definitely, but the silver lining was that it put the final nail in the coffin of her feelings for him. Unfortunately, her heart had seemed to latch on to the next unavailable guy. But she wasn't about to voice her feelings for Jax to Bex, or to anyone. She wasn't kidding herself when it came to her chances with him, and those feelings were better off unsaid.

And the fact that Elle kept having to remind herself of was that Jax was still with Tara. Elle might be a lot of things, but after what had happened to her with that bitch Susan Ashby, she would never be the one anyone cheated with.

As they walked into the salon, the first thing Elle noticed was Gemma sitting in one of the massage chairs, getting a pedicure.

"Oh, hey Gemma," Bex said a little nervously. Gemma glanced up and looked between Bex and Elle, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"Oh, Bex, thank God you're here. Will you do me a favor?" she rummaged through her bag, pulling out several dollar bills and reaching them out to her, "Will you go down the street to the store and grab me some paper towels? I'm having a little family dinner tonight and I completely forgot I'm out and I just won't have time after I'm done here." Bex nodded, taking the money out of Gemma's hand.

"Yeah, sure thing Gemma," Bex said, taking the money, "Any special brand?"

"Oh no, just whatever's on sale," she said dismissively. Elle turned to follow Bex out as Gemma called out to her.

"Oh, you stay here," she said to Elle, patting the chair next to her, "Have a seat." Elle looked nervously at Bex, who just shrugged and nodded and Elle walked over and sat down.

"I don't think we've ever been introduced," she said, "I'm Gemma, Jax's mom." Elle nodded.

"Yeah, I know who you are," she said, "I'm Elle."

"So have you been having a good time at the clubhouse?" Gemma asked. Elle nodded, worried Wendy might have been saying something to Gemma about her.

"You know it's nice to see a girl who doesn't shove her tits in the guys' faces but still gives them the comfort they need," she commented, staring at her hard, almost as if Elle were a book and Gemma was trying to read her. Elle nodded, feeling herself blush.

"Yeah, I mean that's not really why I go out there. Just there to have a good time, I guess," Elle said. Gemma nodded.

"Right, of course," she said. She sighed deeply, "I've just been so stressed the last couple of weeks. I mean, Jax and his old lady are just tearing each other apart. I think she's gonna take off any day now." Elle raised her eyebrows in surprise, wondering why Gemma was telling her this. Gemma just shook her head thoughtfully and looked back at Elle as a tiny woman sat on a stool at Gemma's feet and started painting her nails.

"You're the one whose boyfriend came by the clubhouse, right?" she asked. Elle's heart sank. She was still so embarrassed by that scene.

''Fiancé," Elle corrected quietly, "EX- fiancé."

"Hmmm," Gemma said pensively, "You know, I was impressed with how you handled yourself in there. It's not easy to have a guy go off on you like that and not completely fly off the handle."

"Oh, thanks," Elle said, once again surprised with the direction this conversation was going.

"I was also impressed with the way my son stood up for you like that," Gemma continued, "I've never seen him do that for any girl besides Tara, especially not a croweater." This took Elle completely by surprise and made her heart skip a beat, which she tried to ignore. Gemma leaned over towards her.

"Do you want my advice, Elle?" she asked, "I mean, I'd hate to overstep my bounds here." Elle nodded slowly, thinking to herself that this seemed like a woman who was constantly overstepping her bounds, but wanted to hear what she had to say none the less.

"I don't know what you're really looking for, coming to the parties. Some girls are there to have a good time, others are looking for a quick fuck with an outlaw, while most of them are swarming around, hoping to get noticed by the guys as old lady material," she began. Elle nodded.

"I guess I'm just there to have a good time," she said slowly. Gemma pursed her lips and nodded.

"Well, I'll tell you now that to the guys, Croweaters are and always will be just pussy. A place to put their dick. They never become old ladies. It's a one in a million shot. So if the reason you keep coming to those parties ever changes, I'd rethink your idea of having a good time," she said, looking pointedly at Elle. Elle nodded, slowly starting to pick up on what Gemma was putting down. This was one perceptive bitch.

The lady working on Gemma's feet slid her shoes on when she was finished painting her nails as Gemma smiled broadly at Elle and stood up from her chair.

"You know, I've got the Tacoma charter coming in in a few days and I might need some help from a few of the girls cleaning up the place. Prospects usually do it, but the club is keeping them pretty busy at the moment. Would you be willing to come help out?" she asked. Elle nodded.

"Yeah, sure," she said.

"Great," Gemma said, digging through her bag for her phone and handing it to Elle, "Put your number in my phone for me. I'll give you a call when I need you to come by," she said, handing her the phone. Elle punched in her number and saved it for her before handing it back to her as Bex returned, shopping bag in tow.

Bex held the bag up to Gemma, who breezed right past her and out the door, not bothering to grab the paper towers. Bex looked strangely behind her as she took Gemma's vacated seat, setting the paper towels on the floor next to her.

"What was all that about?" she asked. Elle pursed her lips, staring at the door Gemma had just walked through.

"I have no idea," Elle said, a little dishonestly. She did have some idea what Gemma was up to, she just had no idea why.

**A/N Please review! I really appreciate y'alls feedback! **


	5. The Prince of Charming is set free

Gemma called Elle bright and early the next morning and asked her to come over and help get the clubhouse ready for the Tacoma charter's visit. Elle mumbled sleepily into her phone that she'd be there soon and rolled out of bed, hoping a shower would wake her up. When she'd agreed to help, she hadn't known it was going to be at the butt crack of dawn.

After her shower, she quickly fixed her hair and makeup so she at least looked presentable to be out in public and pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top before grabbing her purse and heading out the door. She'd debated asking Bex if she wanted to come, but as it wasn't even 8 in the morning, she decided against waking her up. She left a note on the counter telling her where she was and to meet her at the clubhouse if she wanted to come by.

She pulled into the clubhouse parking lot several minutes later and walked in to find the place completely trashed. Bottles, cans, and cups littered the floor and all along the bar and there was a puddle of what she was pretty sure was vomit on the floor in front of the bar. Gemma was behind the bar with a big trash bag, shoving things into it while a few other girls Elle recognized but didn't know ran around the clubhouse cleaning up. It seemed that Wendy the Queen had either not been invited or thought she was above this little cleaning party, as she was nowhere to be seen.

Gemma glanced up when Elle walked in and smiled at her.

"Oh, Elle thank God you're here. Do you see this place? Fucking disaster. It's a wonder the guys get anything done without us," she said, hands on her hips as she looked around the room and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

"I'm gonna need you to restock the bar," she said, taking some keys out of her pocket and handing them to Elle, "Storage room is at the end of the hall. There are a couple boxes of vodka and some tequila. They'll probably be heavy, so just grab what you can." Elle took the keys and nodded, heading to the storage room. When she got to the door, she realized it was already unlocked and she pushed it open. She heard someone yelling and walked in to see Jax pacing the room on his phone, holding it away from his ear and up to his mouth. Her heart started racing as she watched him, and she wasn't exactly sure why.

"I'm fucking sick if it!" he was screaming into the phone, "This fucking pattern of yours. The minute times start to get tough, little Tara packs her bags and hits the road." He put the phone back up to his ear, listening for a beat, before saying, "Yeah, fuck you, too. Don't come back this time." He listened a second more before he slammed the phone shut and ran his hands through his hair, finally glancing up and noticing Elle.

"Can I not get some fucking privacy anywhere in this goddamn place?" he yelled angrily at her. Elle jumped back, stumbling slightly.

"S-Sorry," she said, "Gemma just wanted me to grab some bottles for the bar." She went through a few boxes, looking for the bottles Gemma was talking about and trying to get out of there as quickly as possible as Jax sat down on a bench by the wall, his head in his hands.

"Nah, it's okay," he mumbled. She was about to just grab an entire box and push it down the hall if she couldn't carry it just so she wouldn't have to come back in, when he grabbed her arm.

"I'm sorry," he said, "It's not really you I wanted to yell at." She nodded.

"Yeah, I got that," she said, "From the whole… you know… yelling at your phone." He sighed, a distant look in his eyes.

"Yeah, that was my old lady. She took off. Middle of the night shit. I woke up and she was just fucking gone." He said. Elle stuck her hands in her pockets, not really sure what to say.

"I'm sorry, Jax," she finally said and, feeling awkward standing, took a seat next to him. He shook his head.

"Not like I didn't see it coming. We weren't in love anymore. Neither of us has been happy for a long time," he rambled distractedly. He leaned back against the wall, turning his head to look at Elle, "I guess I just didn't have the balls to end it, you know? We'd been together for so long," he told her, digging a joint out of his pocket and lit up, then passed it to her.

"I usually have a rule of no weed before 9 am," she said as she took the joint and took a hit. Jax exhaled, waving the smoke away with his hand as a slight grin made its way to his face.

"I don't have that rule," he said. He closed his eyes for a moment as he took a final hit off the joint before putting it out on the windowsill behind him. As if talking to himself he muttered, "I'm almost glad she's gone. I can finally just move on."

Elle looked over at him as he opened his eyes to face her. Her heart did a double take and she felt her stomach start to do flip flops as he leaned towards her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked into his beautiful blue eyes before closing hers as he leaned down to kiss her and she felt heat rush through her body as his lips touched hers. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him and she had to hold back a contented sigh. She'd wanted to kiss him ever since the first time she'd ever seen him nearly 10 years ago, and lost her head in the moment for a minute.

His hand reached down, sliding under her shirt to the button of her shorts and she backed away from him.

"Jax, no," she said, gently pushing him back from her. He stared at her, incredulous.

"Seriously?" he asked, a smirk dancing across his lips as he leaned closer to her, "Do you know how dangerous it is to turn down the President?" She bit her lip, shaking her head slightly.

"I do know how dangerous a time it is after a break up," she said, having to force herself not to jump on him and tear his clothes off right there, "Your head's not in the right place to be sleeping with anyone." She didn't even know why she was refusing him. For weeks all she'd wanted was him. But she knew she didn't want him like this.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at her, his smirk replaced with a scowl. He clearly wasn't so used to rejection.

"Who are you to talk about where my fucking head is? Just some goddamn croweater," he muttered, leaning back against the wall. Elle grimaced at the term. She knew what she was, but up until this point she hadn't thought of it as a bad thing. Wasn't Bex always going on and on about what an honor it was to be croweater? She realized now what she'd really been doing – letting them use her as a pass around, just a place to put their dicks. She watched Jax close his eyes, Gemma's words from the salon swimming back to her. 'If the reason you start coming back to the parties ever changes, I'd rethink your idea of having a good time.'

Maybe her reason for hanging out at the clubhouse _was_ changing. She stood up and grabbed a few bottles of Jack out of the box by the door, turning around one last time to look at him. If it was, she'd be wasting her time. As he'd said, she was just some goddamn croweater. And it killed her to know he thought of her like that.

SOASOASOASOA

Several weeks went by and Elle had been avoiding the clubhouse. Gemma had texted her the night the Tacoma charter came in to see where she was, but she hadn't responded. Juice had even texted her a couple times to invite her to some smaller get-togethers and to ask where she'd been.

She wasn't sure what exactly she was hoping would happen. That Jax would notice her absence and come rushing over on his Harley to sweep her off her feet? Not likely. So she spent most of her time at home or at the pawn shop, trying to keep her mind on other things. But as she literally had nothing else in her life going on at the moment, that was proving to be a difficult challenge.

Bex came out of the back room at the pawn shop and pulled a stool up to where Elle was sitting at the counter.

"You sure you don't want to come tonight? It's gonna be really good. They're just getting back from a run," Bex said.

"From where?" Elle asked, trying to avoid answering the question. Bex shrugged.

"No idea, I just know they've been gone," she said. Bex continued to look at her curiously, still waiting on an answer. Elle shook her head.

"I don't really feel up to going to a party tonight," she said. She hadn't really given Bex a reason why she had stopped going to the clubhouse and had refrained from asking her about Jax so as not to give herself away, but it was killing her.

"So how is everyone?" she asked vaguely. Bex shrugged.

"Same ol', same ol'," she said, "But I'm starting to feel like your goddamn answering machine. Your absence has been noticed." Elle looked up.

"Oh really… by who?" she asked, trying to keep the hopeful tone out of her voice.

"Oh you know, Juice and Opie, and Tig's still hoping for that threesome," she said laughing. Elle tried to laugh back.

"Anyone else?" she asked, hoping she wasn't pushing it too far. Bex gave her a weird look.

"I dunno, why? Anyone in particular you got in mind?" she asked, leaning her elbow on the counter, her head perched on her hand. Elle shook her head firmly.

"No, just… curious," she said evasively. She wriggled around in her seat uncomfortably until she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"So... how's Wendy been ever since Jax and Tara split?" Elle asked, trying to sound like she cared more about what new antics Wendy had been up to. Bex looked at her.

"How do you know Jax and Tara split?" she asked.

"Oh, I ran into him at the clean up," she said, "He told me." Bex narrowed her eyes at Elle.

"Is that why you're not coming around anymore?" she asked, "Because Tara left?"

"No…" she said unconvincingly.

"You've got a thing for Jax, don't you?" Bex asked, grinning.

"What? No! I mean, maybe. I don't know," Elle said, sighing. Bex shook her head.

"You broke the cardinal rule, my friend," she said, then looked at her concernedly, "Listen, Jax has been hooking up with Wendy almost every night I've been out there." Elle wasn't surprised, but the information made her chest constrict anyway.

"I'm sorry, Elle. If I'd have thought there was a chance you'd end up actually falling for one of them, I never would have brought you into the life. I really don't want to see you hurt again," Bex said, "So whatever you've got goin on in your head about Jax, I suggest you just get it right out of there. Jax doesn't date croweaters, he just… does them."

"So maybe I don't want to be a croweater anymore," Elle said furiously. Bex looked at her sympathetically.

"I'm really sorry, Elle, but it's a label that's hard to shake," she said gently. Elle sighed, knowing it was true.

"Listen, you should come tonight," Bex said as Elle gave her an incredulous look, "No, listen. I know it'll fucking hurt, but I think it'll be good for you to see Jax for yourself. Get the pipe dream out of your mind, you know?"

Elle shrugged and thought about it. If she was honest with herself, she really did want to go. She did want to see Jax. She just didn't want to see him lead Wendy to the back of the clubhouse. And maybe Bex was right. Elle would see Jax with Wendy, she'd get upset, she'd go home, she'd cry him out of her system, and then tomorrow would be another day, her mind free. Elle sighed.

"I'll go for a little bit. But we're taking separate cars so I can go home early," she said and Bex nodded happily, "And if your stupid plan doesn't work, I'm not going back there again."

SOASOASOASOASOA

The sons pulled up to the Teller-Morrow lot from an exhausting yet successful run to Indian Hills. Gemma and Piney came out to greet them as they all filed into the clubhouse.

"Hi, baby," Gemma said, kissing Jax on the cheek. He smiled, giving her a kiss back.

"Hey, ma," he said, walking past her to the bar to grab a beer. Gemma watched as Wendy practically bee-lined it over to get Jax a drink before cuddling up on him. She rolled her eyes at the hopeless case. That would happen over her dead body.

Opie told Wendy to get him a drink as he sat next to Jax at the bar, and she obediently, albeit begrudgingly, hopped off Jax to pull him a beer before he told her to get lost. Jax turned to look at him after Wendy scurried away.

"Somethin on your mind, brother?" he asked. Opie pursed his lips, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"Just checking on where your head's at since Tara split," he said. Jax looked at him hard.

"My head's just fine, Ope," he said firmly. Opie nodded, glancing back at where Wendy was sitting with her usual horde of croweaters. Jax followed his gaze and shook his head.

"That's just pussy, man," he said.

"I'm just saying, maybe you could use a little variety," Opie said. Jax shrugged.

"Wendy's just easy," he said, lighting a cigarette.

"They're all easy for you," Opie pointed out. Jax thought about Elle turning him down in the storage room all those weeks ago and took a drag of his cigarette, exhaling slowly.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said, his mind still full of that girl. He hadn't been able to get her out of his head since that day. He just needed to fuck her, get her out of his system. They'd fuck, he'd realize she was just another croweater, he'd be done with all that bullshit, and tomorrow would be another day, his mind free.

**A/N Please please review! Let me know what you think! **


	6. Snow White and the Prince

Elle and Bex arrived at the party that night, Elle dressed slightly more conservatively in jeans and a red semi low v neck t-shirt. Tonight she was not aiming for slutty. All she wanted to do was see Jax with Wendy with her own eyes, so she could lose the little feeling of hope still fluttering around inside of her and move on. They walked up the lot to see the party even more rowdy than usual, what with the celebration of the return from the run.

Elle took a deep breath as they walked into the clubhouse, not really sure if this was such a good plan or not. Without stopping to look around to see who was where, she bee-lined it for the bar and walked behind it, grabbing herself a beer. Bex followed her, bouncing around, saying hi to the guys – clearly in her element, and hopped on a stool on the other side of the bar. Elle quickly finished her beer and started on another one before finally taking a look around to see if she could see Jax. She scanned the room and when she didn't see him she assumed he must be outside.

'Or in the back with Wendy,' she thought ruefully to herself. Tig walked up to the bar just then, throwing his arm around Bex and looking at Elle.

"Snow White has returned!" he said, and she grinned as she handed him a beer. He took a swig of it grinning as he looked between the girls.

"So is tonight gonna be the night, then?" he asked, wriggling his eyebrows and motioning between the three of them. Bex laughed as Elle looked curiously at her. Bex winked at her before turning back to Tig, wrapping her arms around him suggestively.

"I don't know, Tiggy, it could be," she purred. He kissed her and turned back to Elle, but before she could respond, she saw Jax, alone, swaggering down the hall from the dorm rooms and through the clubhouse. He strode up to the bar, about to tell Elle to grab him a bottle of whatever, when he realized who it was.

"Oh, hey," Jax said, their last encounter fresh on both of their minds. Bex's eyes widened as watched the exchange, still draped around Tig. Elle tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously and smiled at him.

"Hey," she said. Tig looked between the two of them, a scowl on his face.

"So… how are you doing?" she asked. He tugged on his beard, his grin dropping slightly as he shrugged.

"I'm doin fine, darlin," he said, leaning over the bar towards her.

"Glad to hear it," she said, smiling at him, "Can I, uh, get you anything?" she asked. He nodded, his eyes not leaving her face, a slight smile on his lips.

"Yeah, grab me a bottle of vodka," he said. She grinned.

"You haven't run through em all, yet?" she asked.

"Nah, I had ma get another case," he said grinning as she handed the bottle to him from across the bar. His hand lingered on hers as he took the bottle from her and he changed his mind, setting the bottle aside.

"Actually, I'm not really in the mood for vodka tonight," he said, "Will you grab me a beer?" Elle nodded, handing one to him and he twisted the cap off. She grabbed another one for herself and joined him on the other side of the bar, almost completely forgetting Tig and Bex were still standing there. Jax turned around, looking behind him at the empty booth in the corner.

"C'mere," he said, jerking his head towards the booth and taking her hand. Tig slammed his hand on the bar.

"Goddammit, Jax!" he yelled, and Jax looked over at him surprised, a small smirk on his face.

"Yeah?" he said, amused. Tig looked desperately between Elle and Bex.

"Sorry, Tig," Elle said, unable to hide her laugh, "I guess tonight's not gonna be the night," she said as Jax led her away to the booth in the corner, Tig muttering something about a pussy stealing, threesome blocking, asshole mutinously under his breath.

"So… haven't seen you around in a while," he said after they'd sat down next to each other and her heart started thumping. He was extremely close to her.

"Yeah, you know, been busy," Elle said evasively, trying to get a read on what he was thinking and having absolutely no luck. He nodded, leaning closer towards her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Well, I'm glad you're back," he murmured into her ear. His breath on her neck sent shivers down her spine as her heart started beating so fast she worried he'd be able to hear it.

"Oh yeah?" she said, cocking her eyebrow and trying her best at flirting, but he was making it very difficult as she could hardly breathe with him so close to her, "Why's that?" He laughed softly, tucking her hair behind her ear as he looked into her eyes.

"Because I haven't been able to get you out of my head since the last time I saw you," he said honestly, 'And I really need to get you out of my system' he thought to himself.

"Really?" Elle practically choked out at his unexpected confession. She cleared her throat, taking a deep breath, "Um, I mean… I've thought a lot about you, too," she finally admitted. He grinned as he lowered his head, kissing her neck gently. She moaned and he lifted his head, bringing his free hand up to her cheek as he pulled her in to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around him, their bodies entwined in the small confines of the booth. Elle felt heart rush through her body as Jax kissed her urgently, every nerve in her body standing on end.

"I want you so bad," he whispered in her ear, breaking apart their kiss and pressing his forehead against hers. She looked at him, a split second to make her decision, before nodding. She'd never wanted anyone as badly in her life. Jax stood up, taking Elle's hand as she stood and led her to his old dorm room in the back.

Jax opened the door for her and she walked in, turning around to face him as he swaggered up to her slowly and ran his hands up and down her arms, staring into her eyes. He couldn't get over how beautiful she was. She'd done her makeup lighter today and if anything it made her look even more striking. He tried to shake the feeling from his head, reminding himself that she was only a croweater. That she'd already slept with half his charter. That this night was only so he could finally stop wondering what it was like to be with her and she'd be out of his system.

He wrapped her in his arms, leaning down to kiss her. She threw her arms around his neck, his kisses becoming more urgent as his arms slid under the back of her shirt, feeling the curve of the small of her back. He lifted her shirt up and over her head, tossing it aside as he continued kissing her. She reached up, slipping his cut off and letting it fall to the floor as he reached around her, expertly unhooking her strapless bra.

She moaned as one of his hands reached up to cup her breast, her nipples hardening at his touch, the other hand wrapped around her head, holding her to him. She tugged on the bottom of his tshirt, wanting to feel his bare skin pressed against hers, and he took a step back, ripping it off, before sliding his hand in the waist band of her jeans, pulling her towards him. With a flick of his hand he unbuttoned her jeans and she peeled them off, standing naked before him.

His eyes traveled the curves of her body and stepped towards her, closing the gap between them. He took her breasts in his hands, kissing the tops of her mounds, groaning in anticipation of what he was going to do her when he got her on her back and how she would feel wrapped around his cock.

He backed her up until she hit the bed, her knees buckling beneath her as she fell onto the bed. She leaned back on her elbows, her breathing rapid and the butterflies quivering in her belly. Her eyes traveled down his toned chest to his belted jeans, slung low on his hips over his white boxers. She watched as he slowly undid his belt buckle and unzipped his jeans, letting them fall to the floor. He walked slowly towards her and Elle sat up, running her hands down his chest, feeling him tremble under her touch. She looked up into his face, into his beautiful blue, lust filled eyes, wondering if this was the right moment for this and knowing even if it wasn't, she'd passed the point of no return long ago.

He bent over her kissing her as he forced her on her back, settling himself on top of her. He slowly began to kiss down her body and she felt a strong intake of breath as he went lower and lower, kissing her inner thighs, his beard brushing against her skin, before rubbing his thumb against her clit. She gasped as he inserted one, then two fingers, pumping them in and out of her, feeling her wetness as he leaned forward, his tongue brushing her clit.

She writhed at his touch and whimpered as he removed his fingers and moved up her body, kissing her as she wrapped her legs around him. He grinned down at her as he drove himself into her and she moaned at the feeling of fulfillment. He reached up, brushing the hair from her face and staring into her eyes, getting lost in the moment as he thrust in and out of her. She smiled up at him, wrapping an arm around his neck and running her fingers through his hair. He quickened his pace and she moaned, pushing her hips up to get as much of him inside of her as possible. He slowed down, once again reminding himself why he was fucking her, that this was only to remind him that she was just a croweater. And this was not how he fucked croweaters.

He flipped over quickly so she was on top of him, straddling him. Her hair fell forward around her face and he watched her tits rise and fall with her heavy breathing.

"Ride me," he growled at her and she lowed herself onto him, a moan escaping her lips as she once again felt him enter her.

He watched her, her face contorted in ecstasy as she moved her hips, falling into a rhythm, moaning as he lifted his hips to feel her completely wrapped around him. Her breathing shallowed as her pace quickened and she let out a guttural moan as she braced herself on his shoulders. She shuddered as he felt her spasm around his cock and he lost his control, releasing himself inside of her.

She collapsed on top of him and he pulled her close, kissing her softly as their breathing slowly steadied and they fell asleep.

Jax awoke the next morning to find Elle still curled into him, her head on his chest, their legs intertwined and her arm thrown around his chest while his was wrapped around her back. He pulled her closer, kissing her forehead and enjoying the feel of her skin against his until his early morning haze lifted and he realized this was the first time he'd spent the night with a girl besides Tara. He closed his eyes, rolling away from her. Instead of getting her out of his system, their romp in the sheets had engrained her more completely in it.

"Fuck," he muttered to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose as she slowly stirred. He looked over at her and she smiled at him.

"Morning," she said sleepily. He nodded in reply.

"You need to go," he stated. She looked at him, her smile faltering, and he felt his heart constrict, "I've just got a busy morning," he muttered. She nodded and got out of bed, quickly pulling her clothes on. She glanced back him lying on the bed, his hands rubbing his face, once again wondering what he was thinking as he continued to avoid her gaze. The memory of last night, of him staring deeply into her eyes as he was inside of her, contrasted deeply with the man in the bed this morning.

"Okay, well, see you later, I guess," she said.

"Yeah," he replied, still not looking at her, as she stepped through the door, closing it behind her. He rolled over, groaning. Well if fucking her hadn't gotten her out of his head, he'd just need to go the other way and completely avoid her.

Elle walked disheartened down the hall and into the main room, passing all the passed out half naked bodies lying disheveled and precarious around the clubhouse. Last night had been so amazing, but she knew it had been a mistake. He obviously didn't feel for her the way she did for him, and she had just made it even harder on herself by sleeping with him. She mentally slapped herself in the forehead as she passed the bar, heading towards the front door.

Her head jerked as a loud snore startled her from her thoughts and she looked to see Tig roll over on the bar, accidentally shoving Leslie, who was lying on top of him, onto the floor.

"Love ya, babe," Tig muttered, rolling back over as Leslie bounced back up, giggling, wearing only a tiny skirt that was hanging on her hips.

"Love ya, too!" she said as she turned to run out the door. She made it all the way outside before she paused, laughing again, and ran back inside.

"I forgot my shirt!" she said, grabbing it off the floor by the bar.

"That's why I love ya," Tig said grinning, one eye opened as he watched Leslie pull her shirt back on.

"K, bye Tig! Bye Elle!" she said, heading out of the door, "Bye, Wendy!" she called as she passed the pool table. Elle looked over to see Wendy's form lying on the pool table, Chibs' arm wrapped tightly around her, and hurried out of the clubhouse, it was way too early in the morning for a Wendy confrontation.

Wendy stirred as she heard Leslie call her name and she opened her eyes, seeing Elle walk towards the clubhouse door. Her eyes narrowed as she watched her leave. Jax had let her spend the night? She'd been spending weeks trying to get Jax to forget about Tara and realize what a fine old lady she'd make, and he'd still never let her stay the entire night. She was not going to stand for some bimbo in a tight pair of jeans ruining things for her. Clearly her threats weren't keeping Elle away, and talking to jax was useless. She'd need a new plan to make sure Elle stayed far, far away.

**A/N Please review! Feedback is always appreciated and I really want to know what y'all think!**


	7. The Huntsman chooses his prey

**A/N Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! Your feedback is always greatly appreciated! Please let me know what you think about where this story is going - it's going to start getting a little darker so I want to know what you think before I post the next chapter! Thanks so much! **

The Sons filed into the Chapel for their meeting, each dropping their phones in the basket before walking in. Jax made his way to the head of the table, his stress level up ever since his meeting with the Russians earlier that day. He called the meeting to order as soon as everyone had taken their seats and leaned back in his chair, surveying them all.

"We're still 50 grand short on our order for the Russians," he said, looking around at them all, "I tried to get them to give us more time – Lenevski says he needs it by tonight." Chibs whistled, shaking his head.

"How the hell are we supposed to get 50 grand by tonight?" he asked while there were murmurs of assent around the table. Jax shook his head.

"That's what we need to figure out," he said.

"I gotta guy owes me 5," Bobby threw out, "I can get it from him by this afternoon." Jax nodded.

"Alright, anyone else?" he asked.

"One of the croweaters runs a pawn shop," Tig said, "I take shit in there when I'm behind on my dues." Jax raised his eyebrows at him.

"We need 45 thousand dollars, Tig," he said, "Can you really get that pawning your sex toys?" Tig shrugged.

"Probably not, but we can all see what we've got, what we can live without for a month or two before we can get it back. And she doesn't charge Sons interest," he said. Jax nodded and shrugged. They weren't gonna get a no interest loan anywhere else.

"Alright. I invited Lenevski out to the clubhouse tonight. I figured we can get a croweater to keep him happy, maybe happy enough to buy us a little more time. See what you can get together and we'll reconvene at 5," he banged the gavel, signaling the end of the meeting and stood with the others, hoping they'd be able to pull this off.

SOASOASOASOA

Elle sat on the stool behind the counter of the pawn shop, staring at the clock and begging 5 o'clock to come sooner. She still had 3 hours to go. She got on the computer to try to pass the time when she heard the bell on the door jingle and she looked up to see Juice lugging several laptops in his hands. She grinned at him as he set them down.

"I need to pawn these," he said and she nodded, sifting through the equipment. As she was looking up the value of the laptops, the bell jingled again and Tig walked through the door, a giant box in his hands.

"I need to pawn these," he said, setting it on the counter and Elle walked over to it. She started to stick her hand in the box to sift through it before realizing what it was and jerking her hand out of the box.

"Jesus, Tig," she said, "Are these used?" She peered into the box full of dildos, bondage equipment, and several items that she neither knew nor wanted to know what it was used for. Tig shrugged.

"Not all of them. I haven't gotten to try em all out yet so I'm just pawning them," he said pointedly, "I'm gonna need them back eventually." Elle shook her head.

"What, no blow up dolls?" she asked jokingly. Tig's eyes widened as he shook his head slowly.

"Don't even joke about that," he said seriously, shuddering slightly. Juice leaned over the counter towards her.

"He's got a problem with dolls," he told her. Elle grinned, looking up at Tig, who just shook his head.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said. Elle looked at him curiously but shrugged as the door jingled again and she looked up to see Happy, carrying several medieval looking weapons. She stared at them all as they dropped them on the counter. Elle looked them over, and then looked back at Happy.

"Let me guess, you need to pawn these," she said, and Happy nodded. She looked back at the weapons, noticing what looked like blood stains on several of them. She swallowed hard, looking back at him.

"I don't think I can take these," she said slowly.

"Oh yes you can!" Happy said gruffly. Juice nudged him and Happy glared at him, then tried his best at a smile as he looked back at Elle, "I mean… please." Elle sighed but was distracted as the bell jingled yet again and Opie walked in, carrying a box of his own and setting it down next to the now extremely large pile of crap taking up most of her counter space.

"What the hell is going on?" Elle asked.

"We've hit a little… cash flow problem," Tig said, "We need 45 grand by tonight." Elle's eyes widened.

"Let me call Bex over here, she's going to have to decide how much she can give you. I can't hand out that kind of money without her," she said, picking up the store phone to call Bex in. While they waited, Elle tried to do what she could to find as much value in the items the boys had brought as she could, but wasn't coming up with near enough.

Bex walked in to the clubhouse several minutes later smiling broadly at the guys.

"Hello, boys," she said, bouncing around to the back of the counter, "What've we got?"

"From the stuff they've brought it, I can't get a value of more than 10 thousand," Elle said.

"We need 45," Tig told Bex. She nodded, frowning as she sifted through the items, pulling on a pair of gloves to go through Tig's box, while she took notes on a pad next to her. She played around with a calculator for several minutes before finally looking up at them all.

"I can _maybe_ get you 15 with what's here, and I'm afraid that's being generous," she said.

"Perky," Tig started as Juice cleared his throat, whispering something in Tig's ear, "I mean…. Bex. Can't you do any better than that?" Bex put her hands on her hips, cocking her head at Tig.

"I can maybe do 15, 5 – but that's it," she said. They nodded, taking the 15.5 grand as they heard the loud roar of a truck pull up to the shop. Miles, the prospect, walked in, carrying a set of keys.

"Jax is pawning his truck," he said, setting the keys on the counter. Elle jerked her head up at the sound of Jax's name, but didn't see him making his way into the shop.

"Why didn't he bring it by?" she asked. Miles shrugged.

"Didn't say," he replied and Elle frowned. Was he avoiding her after they spent the night together? She shook the thought from her head. Why would he avoid her? She was just a goddamn croweater to him, he had made that much clear.

"That truck is a piece of shit," Bex said to Miles. Tig leaned over the counter, grinning at her.

"C'mon," he said flirtatiously, "The club needs you." Bex looked sternly at him and he leaned closer towards her.

"C'mon," he urged and she finally smiled at him, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, okay. I can maybe give you 10 for the truck. Normally I wouldn't even give you 3 for that thing. That's as high as I can go," she said. When Tig looked at her pleadingly she added, "I'm already basically paying you to store your shit. There's no way I could make back even a third of that from the crap you brought in." Tig shrugged.

"Alright, we'll take it," he said. Bex cashed them out and set their stuff aside as the guys turned to walk out.

"Hey, um, I had to drive Jax's truck over here," Miles said as they headed towards the door, "Can I double up with one of you guys?"

"Not unless you grow tits," Tig said. Miles looked to Happy and Juice, who shook their heads.

"Big tits," Happy replied.

"Enormous tits," Juice said. He turned around before walking out the door.

"Make sure y'all come out tonight!" he called. Bex nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh we'll be there!" she said as the door closed behind them. She turned to Elle.

"What do you think all that was about?" Bex asked. Elle shook her head.

"Nothing good, I'm sure," she replied, starting to gather up the boxes to bring in to the back room.

"Yeah… I've never seen them all come in here like that before. They must really need the money," Bex commented. She looked over at Elle, "Don't you still have all that money from the ring? You could lend them some, I'm sure they'd pay you back." Bex suggested. Elle looked over at her.

"That's all the money I have in the world," she said, "I can't just give it away. I'm sure they'll figure something out."

SOASOASOASOASOA

Jax sat at the bar alone in the clubhouse, throwing back a beer as he waited for the guys to get back from the pawn shop. He knew a miracle was going to have to happen to get all the money together by tonight and hoped his back-up plan would be good enough to get him a few more days. Wendy walked through the doors of the clubhouse, heading straight for Jax.

"Hey, you made it," he said, slapping on his sexiest grin as he swaggered towards her. She smiled back at him, wrapping an arm around his neck.

"Of course, baby," she purred, a finger traveling down his chest, "What can I do for you?" He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"The club needs you to do us a favor," he said, looking into her eyes. Her eyebrows raised slightly in surprise.

"Of course!" she said, "I mean… what do you need? What can _I _do?"

"We've got this business partner coming to our party tonight, I'm trying to keep him happy," he began, rubbing his hands along her back.

"Jax…" she started, frowning slightly.

"Come on," he said, his voice low and sexy, "You're the only one I trust that's good enough to keep him company." Wendy grinned at the compliment as she ran her hands over his chest, deciding. Finally, she grinned mischievously and turned around, walking towards the back to the dorm rooms. She casually pulled her shirt off over her head as she walked back, pausing to look at him over her shoulder.

"You do me, I do him," she said. Jax chuckled softly, grinning.

"Fair enough," he said as he followed her into the back.

SOASOASOASOASOA

At the party that night, Wendy sat wrapped around Ohotnik Lenevski, a tall, broad shouldered, dangerous looking man and the leader of some Russian gang. She was really wishing she had not agreed to do this favor for Jax and silently cursing that charming fucker. Ohotnik, or Nik as he told her to call him, was not a pleasant man. He seemed to have a permanent frown and his bright blue eyes were the coldest she'd ever seen.

Nik was pretty much ignoring her, letting her grind up on him, sucking on his neck slightly while he drank a beer and surveyed the room. His eyes landed on a dark haired woman standing behind the bar with the most beautiful face he'd ever seen. His mind was already imagining the horrors he could do to her tight body that would slap that innocent look right off her face, feeling his jeans tighten around his crotch. Wendy ground into him a little harder, whispering in his ear.

"You like that, baby?" she murmured. He pushed her back for a second, looking between her and the girl behind the bar. This one was hot, but she looked a little used up. The girl behind the bar looked fresh.

"What do you know about that girl?" he asked, his accent thick, pointing her out. She turned her head to look at who he was pointing to, her eyebrows raised and a small smile on her face.

"What do you want to know?" she asked. He smirked maliciously.

"How does she like it?" he asked. Wendy grinned a little wider, leaning into him.

"However you like it, baby," she said.

"She can take it rough?" he growled, his eyes roaming over the bar girl's tits. Wendy grinned like it was Christmas morning.

"Oh yeah, she likes it real rough," she said, "You should ask Jax to set it up for you. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Nik nodded curtly, pushing her off his lap and standing to find Jax, leaving Wendy to bask in her own good fortune. Not only had she managed to get rid of the crazy looking guy, but now Jax was going to treat Elle like the croweater she was and prove once and for all that she was nothing more to him. She patted herself on the back and went to get a drink.

SOASOASOASOA

Jax was sitting in his usual corner booth, a croweater thrown across his lap running her hands along his chest. He tried to remember her name. Amanda? Alayna? Something like that. His eyes couldn't help but travel over to Elle, standing behind the bar laughing at something Bex said, several hang arounds standing around her, hanging on her every word.

Jax had gone through several croweaters since his night with Elle, hoping to expel her from his mind. It wasn't working. He looked back at the croweater on his lap, about to just take her back to his dorm room, when he saw Nik stride up to him.

"Shit," he muttered, "Disappear," he added, looking back at the croweater. Looking extremely disappointed, she pulled herself off of his lap and went in search of another patch to bang that night. Nik slid into the booth across from Jax, his cold blue eyes staring into Jax's.

"Hey man, we're still about 20 grand short," Jax said, "We're trying to get a few things together, but-" Nik held up a hand.

"I'll give you more time with the money," he said, "If you bring me that one." He pointed at Elle and Jax's heart nearly stopped. He looked back at Nik.

"What's wrong with Wendy?" he asked. Nik shook his head.

"I want that one," he responded. Jax's eyes narrowed as he looked between the laughing, smiling Elle and Nik, whose face was set hard. Jax ran a hand through his hair.

"Look man, you can have any other girl in this place, I'll set it up, but-" his voice trailed off. But, what? Why wasn't this an automatic okay? She was just a goddamn croweater for Christ's sake.

"How about this," Nik said, leaning farther over the table, "I forgive you the extra 20 grand if you set it up." Jax's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Look man, we can come up with the money if you give us more time," he said slowly. Nik's eyes narrowed.

"You're really going to let 20 grand go for some pussy?" he asked. Jax glared at Nik, at a standstill. He knew there was no way he could make a decision about that kind of money without bringing it to the club first, but he dreaded what they'd decide.

"I'll bring it to the club," Jax finally said, "Let you know if you can have her tonight." Nik shook his head slightly.

"Not tonight, I want her tomorrow," he said.

"What's wrong with tonight?" he asked. Nik's lip curled.

"I want to take my time with her," he sneered. Jax looked back at the girl and his blood started boiling at the thought of this fucker putting his hands on her. He resisted the urge to punch him in the face.

"I'll bring it to the club," he finally said. If he had to do this, he at least didn't want it to have to be his decision alone. Nik nodded curtly and stood up.

"Anyone with a patch in the chapel, NOW!" he called throughout the clubhouse. Several of them looked up and followed him into the room while a few went to let the others who were outside know. When they had all congregated around the redwood table, Jax looked at all their faces, knowing that since becoming president, this was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever done.

"Nik's terms have changed," Jax said, sighing as they all continued to look at him, "He's said he'll forgive the extra 20 grand completely, if we give him Elle for the night." Murmurs spread throughout the room.

"Which one's Elle?" Tig asked. Jax rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"Perky's friend," Juice said.

"Ah, fuckin Snow White. Damn I knew she was hot, didn't know she was worth 20 g's," he said, grinning. He turned back to Jax, "What's the problem, brother? He wants the croweater, give him the croweater!" There were several murmurs of agreement.

"Just do it," Clay said, "Send her over to him."

"Can't now - he wants her tomorrow night," Jax said.

"What's wrong with tonight?" Juice asked. Jax sighed, not able to withhold the grimace from his face.

"Says he wants to take his time with her," he said. Opie looked over at Jax's twisted face and spoke up.

"I don't know, brother," Opie said, "That sounds a little off. This could turn bad." Jax caught his eye and Opie read the concern in them that he couldn't hide.

"Who cares?" Happy chimed in, sitting low in his chair, "We're still short 20 grand, and the club cannot lose this connection."

"I don't even know if she'll do it," Jax said.

"She'll do whatever we need her to do," Chibs said to Jax, "Just talk to her. She won't say no to you."

"I mean, she is just a croweater, right?" Tig asked Jax pointedly. Jax stared stonily back at him, refusing to answer the question.

"Alright, we'll put it to a vote," Jax finally said, going around the room. He skipped himself and looked at Tig.

"Aye," Tig said quickly, "Why do we even have to vote on this?" Jax ignored him and moved down the line as one after the other they all said aye. He looked at Opie.

"Naye," Opie said gravely.

"The ayes have it," Jax said, banging his gavel as they all stood up. Jax remained at the table for a few minutes while he reminded himself this was for the good of the club and he had to do it.

**A/N Please review! **


	8. Snow White and the Huntsman

**A/N Thank you thank you thank you to all my reviewers! They all totally made my day! **

Elle watched the Sons exit the chapel, slapping each other on the back and grinning. It must have been a good meeting. She watched Opie at the back of the line, the only one who didn't seem to be celebrating, and Jax was nowhere to be seen. She saw him walk out several minutes later and caught her eye, his patented panty dropping grin spreading across his face as he walked up to her.

"Hey darlin," he said and she grinned, surprised.

"Hi," she responded. He looked around at the crowd, at the Sons looking meaningfully at him, and his smile faltered. He turned back to Elle and jerked his head.

"Can you come with me for a sec? I need to talk to you," he said. She nodded slowly, trying to keep the excitement from showing on her face as her heart started pounding. She walked around the bar and he took her hand, taking her to his old dorm room. She walked in and turned, looking at him expectantly and he pointed to the desk chair.

"Have a seat," he said, pulling it out and turning it to face the bed. She sat down and he perched on the edge of his bed, his knees grazing hers.

"So, what's up?" she asked, looking around the room as images from the last time she had been in there with him flooded her mind. Jax's smile faltered for a second as he looked at her expectant face, reminding himself again she was just a croweater. This was exactly like him asking the same thing of Wendy.

"I need you to do a favor for the club," he said. Elle's eyebrows rose in surprise and her face filled with disappointment.

"Oh… um…what do you need me to do?" she finally asked.

"Did you see that Russian guy out there? Nik?" he asked.

"The one Wendy was all over?" Elle asked, and he nodded, "Yeah, that guy was creeping the shit out of me. He kept looking at me like I was something to eat." Jax reached over, taking her hand in his.

"I know, but apparently he really likes you. I need you to show him a good time tomorrow," he said. Elle jerked her hand out of his, staring at him incredulously.

"I'm not some whore, Jax," she said, feeling the tears that were building up behind her eyes.

"I know," he said earnestly, trying to turn up the Teller charm and reaching out to stroke her cheek with his palm, "I know you're not. But he's gonna do us a huge favor, and the only thing he's asked for in return is a night with the beautiful Elle." Elle looked away from him, shaking her head slightly.

"Is this about money?" she asked, "Is this why you guys were all pawning your stuff? You need money? I have money, Jax. I have almost $10,000 left over from selling my ring, I can loan it to you." It was all the money she had in the world, but if they needed it this badly…. Jax looked at her and sighed, shaking his head.

"It's not enough," he said softly. They sat in silence for several minutes as Elle thought it over.

"And if I don't do it?" she finally asked.

"Let's just say, it would be very bad for the club," he said, looking at her somberly, "This isn't how I wanted this to go down, Elle. But I don't have any other options." She didn't respond, feeling herself go numb, as if her body was protecting her from any more emotional pain. He took her hand in his again and she barely felt it.

"It's just one night, and I swear, I'll never ask you to do anything like this again. But I need you, Elle." She blinked, her face expressionless.

"This is really what you want me to do?" she asked, finally meeting his gaze. 'Not even a little bit,' he thought ruefully to himself.

"This is what the club _needs_ you to do," he said, trying to keep the regret out of his voice. Elle sighed and nodded, knowing in her heart that she would have done whatever he asked her to do, simply because he asked.

"Okay," she said quietly, her eyes downcast. Jax nodded, unable to bring himself to smile.

SOASOASOASOASOA

Nik had sent a town car for Elle the next night and she rode alone in the backseat on her way to meet him, completely miserable. She was angry at herself for agreeing to this, angry at Jax for asking. She just wanted this night to be over. She'd never felt more like a prostitute in her life.

She looked through the partition of the town car to the driver as she shook her foot nervously.

"I'm Elle," she finally said to the driver, hoping a little conversation would help settle her nerves. He looked back at her through the rear view mirror. She could only see his eyes, but they looked friendly.

"That's a pretty name," he responded.

"Thanks, it's actually short for Lauren. There were so many Laurens in my high school that people started called me by my initials, LH, and then it got shortened to just Elle," she said, rambling slightly.

"Lauren? That's my daughter's name," the driver responded, a smile in his voice, "I'm Hunter."

"Nice to meet you, Hunter," Elle said, glancing out the window and hoping that the drive took all night.

"So…Hunter… where are you from?" she asked.

"San Francisco. I usually just drive Mr. Lenevsky around the city when he's in town, but he paid me extra to come out to Charming for a couple of days and help out," he said.

"So is that where your family lives?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yup, been married to my wife for 13 years this August," he said, a touch of pride in his voice, "And we've got two kids – Lauren's 10 and Colin is 7."

"Aw, that's nice," Elle said, "I've always wanted a family."

"Pretty girl like you? It'll happen," the driver said, and Elle couldn't help but smile.

They pulled up to the Caravelle Hotel several minutes later and Hunter opened the door for her. She stepped out cautiously. A chill ran down her spine as she looking around at the isolated hotel, and she tried to chalk it up to the breeze and not her body warning her that something wasn't right.

She followed Hunter through the front doors of the hotel and to the elevators.

"This is where I leave you," Hunter said, punching the button to call the elevator, "He's in room 412." He turned to leave and then paused, turning halfway back, "You take care of yourself, Elle," he said, before turning again and leaving her standing alone, waiting. She paused when the elevator doors opened, debating whether or not to turn around and run right there, but knew as much as she didn't want to do this, she wanted let Jax down even less. It was stupid of her to hang on to her feelings for him after all of this, but she couldn't help it. After their night together, she was sure of only two things – that she loved Jax Teller, and that the feeling was very much unreciprocated.

Without her even realizing how she'd gotten there, she was standing in front of room 412 and knocking on the door. It opened and Nik was standing there, wearing black slacks and a blue button down shirt.

"Come in," he said with a smile. She nodded, looking at his face and noticing that his smile did not reach his eyes. They were cold and emotionless, almost cruel. She nervously walked inside, silently praying that this night went by quickly and she could forget that it ever happened.

Nik offered her a glass of champagne that she gratefully took and finished in one swallow. He refilled her glass, moving closer to her. She felt her body tense as he rubbed his hand down her arm and leaned in close to her.

"It's okay that you're nervous," he said, "Come here, sit down, get comfortable." He motioned to a couch on the opposite side of the room. Elle looked nervously at him and walked over to sit on the couch, clutching her champagne glass. He sat next to her, putting his arm around her, nuzzling her neck as Elle felt her body tense. She gulped, changing her mind in that instant and deciding that she needed to get the hell out of that room.

"This was a mistake," she said, "I-I should go." She set her glass down on the end table next to her and tried to stand as his grip on her arm tightened.

"Let me go," she said firmly, all of the bravado she could muster used up with those three words.

"I don't think so," he said, his face malicious. She jerked out of his grip and lunged off the couch, rushing to the door, when he grabbed her other arm, shoving her violently against the wall. She felt her head make contact with the wall as she tried to jerk her arms out of his grasp, but he was a lot stronger than her. He squeezed her arms forcefully, holding them down at her side.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," she said pleadingly, hoping that if she just continued along with the original plan he'd stop being so rough, "Let's just start over, enjoy the evening." For a brief second his grip on her slackened and she thought he was going to let her go, but instead of letting her go he back-handed her roughly across the face. She felt the ring on his finger slice through the skin above her eye and she stumbled to the side, delicately touching her eye and pulling it back to see blood on her fingers. She looked up at Nik, at the snarl stretched across his face.

"I didn't forgive the Sons their debt so that you could enjoy this," he growled, grabbing her arm and throwing her back against the wall, his hand on her neck.

"I can pay it," she gasped, "I can give you money. Just please let me go."

"Too late for that," he said ,"I've got plenty of money. All I want now… is you." She looked longingly out of the corner of her eye at the door, trying to figure some way out of the situation. She tried to scream, but he pressed his hand so hard against her throat she could hardly breathe.

She brought her knee up, hoping to make contact with his groin so he'd let her go, but he anticipated the move and blocked her, shoving his entire body on hers.

"Keep struggling," he said nastily, "More fun for me." He reached down to the slit in her dress, ripping it up the side. As he moved away from her to get her dress off, she made a run for the door, screaming, praying someone would hear her. But he grabbed her arm, squeezing so tight she thought he might break it in two just in his grasp. He pulled her back and threw her on the floor, kicking her hard in the side and knocking the air out from her, completely incapacitating her.

She looked up at him, his menacing eyes boring into hers, and felt a tear trickle down her cheek.

SOASOASOASOASOA

Elle couldn't see. All she could feel was blinding pain from her head all the way down her body. She didn't know where she was or who she was with. She was vaguely aware that she was naked. She tried to open her eyes but even that movement caused more pain. It wasn't until the car stopped that she even realized she'd been in a car. She heard the door open and felt someone pick her up gingerly. She knew it wasn't Nik, whoever this was was much too gentle.

She felt herself lifted up and screamed as she was moved, every nerve in her body crying out in pain. She had no idea how badly she was injured but knew she had never been in this much pain before. She was gently set down on the pavement and whoever had lifted her whispered in her ear.

"I'm so sorry," he said and she felt a blanket being laid across her. A part of her brain registered the voice but she couldn't place it, "You're at the hospital. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. You're going to be okay." And then it clicked. It was Nik's driver, Hunter. She vaguely remembered, as she had faded in and out of consciousness, the conversation she'd overheard as she'd lain bloody, bruised and naked on the floor of the hotel room.

"_Really boss, another one?" Hunter had said, his voice full of disgust and regret, as he'd walked into the hotel room, "I thought you weren't gonna do this with them anymore." _

"_I got carried away," Nik had replied carelessly, "Get rid of her. Make sure nobody ever finds her." _

"_Is she dead?" _

"_Not yet." _

She heard the car skid out of the parking lot honking the horn to alert the hospital to her presence and several people yelling for help before she passed out again.

Elle had no idea how long she'd been asleep for, but when she woke up she noticed most of her pain was gone. She still felt sore, but it was no longer the complete agony she'd been in. She cautiously opened her eyes to see Bex sitting over her, grasping her hand, her face wet with tears and her eyes puffy and red.

"Oh, God, Elle," she said, trying to smile at her, "You're okay. You're gonna be okay." Elle winced as she tried to sit up and gave up, lying back down on her bed.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice coming out raspy.

"You tell me," Bex said, wide-eyed and shaking her head, "The nurse said you were dropped off in the parking lot, all battered up." Just then the doctor walked in and smiled when she saw that Elle was awake.

"Hello, Elle," she said kindly, "I'm Doctor Forsberg. How are you feeling?"

"Sore," Elle replied, wincing slightly. Dr. Forsberg nodded.

"That's to be expected," she said, "We've got you on a good round of morphine, so you should be fairly pain free."

"What's wrong with me?" Elle asked.

"Well, nothing too serious – you were very lucky," the doctor said, "You've got a few bruised ribs and we had to reset your nose, but nothing that won't heal pretty easily. There was some swelling in your trachea, but we've given you a shot of steroids and the swelling seems to have reduced considerably. You'll need to take it easy for the next couple of weeks to give your ribs a chance to heal, and you should try to keep talking down to a minimum at least for the next day or so to give time for your trachea to heal completely, but you should be out of here by tomorrow." Elle nodded and Dr. Forsberg looked over at Bex.

"Could you leave us alone for a moment?" she asked. Elle shook her head, gripping Bex's hand even harder.

"No, she can stay," Elle said quietly, "I want her to stay." Dr. Forsberg nodded and walked over to Elle's bedside.

"I need to know if you want to press charges against whoever did this. We performed a rape kit and need your consent to release it to the authorities," she said. Elle looked at her, wide-eyed, and slowly shook her head.

"No," she whispered, "No, I don't want to press charges." The doctor frowned, looking at her with kindness and sympathy in her eyes.

"I'd like to strongly advise you to reconsider, Elle," she said, "In many matters like these, pressing charges does wonders in helping victims cope with what has happened to them." Elle stared back at her, her mouth set in a thin line.

"I'm not a victim," she spat, even though she knew that wasn't true, "And I won't be pressing charges." The Doctor nodded and patted her hand gently.

"Well, let me know if you change your mind," she said, before leaving Elle alone with Bex again.

"Who did this to you?" Bex asked in almost a whisper when the doctor had left. Elle sighed. She hadn't told Bex about the deal she'd made with Jax. At the time, it had seemed that saying it out loud, having to explain to someone else what she had been asked to do, would have made it worse.

She now knew it could never get worse than the reality of what it was.

"No one," she muttered. Bex frowned.

"No one? What you did this to yourself?" she asked sarcastically. Elle sighed, looking up at the ceiling, and decided to tell Bex everything. When she had finished explaining what happened, Bex's eyes growing narrower and narrower with every word, Bex gave her hand a squeeze.

"Well, thank God you're alright," she said, leaning down to gingerly kiss Elle on the cheek, "I'm gonna let you sleep for a while, but I'll be back this afternoon, okay?" Elle nodded, smiling carefully at her friend before turning her head over and falling fast asleep.

SOASOASOASOASOASOA

"JAX. FUCKING. TELLER!" Bex screeched as she stormed across the lot of Teller-Morrow. Juice was working in one of the bays and walked out to see what the commotion was all about.

"What's goin on, Bex?" he asked. Bex stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him, fire blazing behind her eyes.

"I'm looking for your fucking president that's what's going on," she said, "Where the hell is he?" Juice raised his eyebrows and pointed to the front doors of the clubhouse. Bex marched over, throwing open the door.

"JAX!" She screamed as she saw him sitting at the bar, sipping on a beer. A few of the other guys were scattered around the room and they all looked up when she walked in. Jax looked over at her, raising his eyes in surprise.

"Hey, Bex," he said carefully.

"Don't you fucking 'Hey Bex' me you stupid fuck!" she screamed, marching up to him and getting right in his face.

"You wanna tell me why you're yelling at me right now?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, sure, okay," she spat angrily, "Because your little buddy that you sold Elle to beat her up so bad he put her in the FUCKING hospital you piece of shit!" she said, her voice rising with every word. Concern flooded Jax's face as he looked at her, springing to his feet as he felt his heart constrict.

"What do you mean? Is she okay?" he asked. Bex scoffed.

"No thanks to you," she responded, arms folded, "But she's got two black eyes, a broken nose, a couple bruised ribs, her throat's all fucked up from being choked almost to death, and bruises all over her goddamn body."

"Bex, I swear I did not know that was going to happen," he said, feeling his blood run cold as he thought of Elle lying in a bed in the hospital. He'd been a fucking wreck since last night, drinking himself into a stupor in an attempt to get his mind off of what was happening. He'd eventually had to go over to Opie's to stop himself from racing over to that hotel and taking Elle away. He should have listened to himself. He should've gone.

"Clearly not enough to not ask her to go. You knew she'd do anything you asked her to. You fucking used her feelings for you," she said and Jax's heart skipped a beat before it sank once again. Up until this point he'd been able to kid himself that he didn't know she had feelings for him, and that he didn't know what Nik was capable of.

"I didn't know," he said, the double meaning of his words not lost on either of them.

"I think you just didn't want to know," Bex responded haughtily.

"It was a club decision," Jax said defensively, more to himself than Bex. He wanted more than anything for this to not be his fault.

Bex raised her hand, slapping him hard across the face. The Sons sitting around the room stood as the sound of her slap reverberated around the clubhouse. Jax waved his hand, motioning for them to sit back down.

"You're an asshole," Bex said, her voice low and her eyes narrow, before she walked back out of the clubhouse.

Gemma, who had followed Bex in after hearing her screaming in the parking lot, walked up to Jax, slapping him across the face herself. Jax just took it, knowing he deserved it.

"What did you do?" she growled at her son. He looked back at her before grabbing his keys off the counter and stalking off out of the clubhouse. He could feel all eyes on him as he left.

SOASOASOASOASOA

Jax walked up to Elle's hospital room twenty minutes later and paused outside of it. He knew she didn't want to see him, was sure he was the last person in the world she wanted to see, but he had to know she was okay. He knocked softly on the door before opening it and walking in.

Elle was alone, her face turned away from him. As she heard the door open she turned back to him and he stopped, shocked. Bex had not exaggerated. If anything, she had under-represented what had happened to her. Her eyes were completely black and puffy, there was a gash running through her left eye and it was swollen, her cheeks were bruised, and she had a bandaged nose. Her lips were swollen and he could see a hand print on her neck from where Nik must have grabbed her. He hated himself for being thankful that the rest of her was covered so he didn't have to see what else had been done to her.

"Jax?" she murmured sleepily, her voice raspy, and he nodded, taking a step into the room. She seemed to realize all of a sudden who he was and what had happened to her, because her eyes widened and her heart monitor started beeping faster.

"No, Jax, no. Please, just… please just leave," she begged.

"Elle-" he started as tears began pouring down her face and she started shaking her head furiously.

"Jax GET OUT!" she screamed as a team of nurses ran into the room.

"Sir, you need to leave," one of them said as they rushed to her side. Jax nodded, looking sadly at Elle, before turning and walking out of the door, banging his fist angrily on the wall outside.

"Elle, was that the man that did this to you?" one of the nurses asked after they had calmed her down. She shook her head, tears still streaming down her face.

"No," she replied bitterly, "But it might as well have been."

**A/N I know this chapter was a little dark, but I hope you liked it! It was really hard to write and I toiled over it for quite a while, so let me know what you thought! Feedback is always appreciated! **


	9. Snow White confronts the Evil Queen

**A/N Thank you SOOOOOOO much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I was so nervous posting it, and I was so happy to hear y'all liked it! **

The Sons were holding church a few days later and Jax was having a hard time concentrating on anything that was being said or decided upon. The only thing that had consumed his mind since he'd seen Elle lying in that hospital bed, bruised and battered and screaming at him, was how he was going to get back at that sick fuck for what he did. But the part of him that knew he was the President of this club knew he couldn't do any sort of retaliation without bringing it to the club – not when retaliation would have such an impact on all of them.

"Next order of business," he said as the last discussion died down, "is what to do about Lenevsky."

"What about him?" Happy asked.

"He beat the shit out of Elle," he said exasperatedly, "She just got out of the fucking hospital."

"I don't know what's in your head, brother, but we cannot lose this connection with the Russians over pussy," Happy responded.

"So, what, we do nothing and let him fuck up another girl?" Jax asked, incredulous.

"We're just thinking about what's best for the club. And what's best for the club is not to go after this guy. We've practically doubled our income since we've been running for him, and he did us a good deed by letting those 20 Gs go," Tig spoke up. Jax's eye narrowed.

"A good deed? He could have killed her," he said.

"Yeah, but he didn't," Happy spoke up, "He roughed her around a little bit."

"Far as I've heard, he didn't even break any bones. We don't even know what went on, man. Maybe she tried to renig on her part of the deal," Tig pointed out, "Maybe she went ape shit on him, or things just got a little freaky and now she's all embarrassed about what she let him do. We don't know." Jax took a deep breath, wanting nothing more than to reach over and strangle Tig. He was practically shaking with suppressed anger.

"We know you're pissed, Jax," Chibs added, "But Tig's right, we can't just go retaliate without the whole story. We've got too much to lose." Jax looked around the table, hoping for one person to disagree. He looked at Opie, who had long since suspected there was more to Jax and Elle than Jax had ever let on, but who had never voiced his suspicions.

"I'm with you, brother," he said, "I'm in for retaliation." Jax nodded, glad for the support, but knowing just like the last time, this was going to get shot down.

"Anyone else agree, or do we not even need to take a vote?" Jax asked, already feeling the defeat. When nobody else spoke up, he banged the gavel angrily, throwing it on the table and storming out of the room.

SOASOASOASOASOASOA

About a week had gone by since Elle had gotten out of the hospital and her physical bruising had begun to fade, but the emotional scars were much harder to get rid of. She spent all her time either sitting with Bex in the Pawn Shop or holed up in the apartment. She was fine until she got a moment to herself and images from the night flooded her brain. She was avoiding mirrors at all costs, not wanting to look at herself, and anytime a customer came into the shop, she high tailed it into the back room until the store emptied again. She couldn't stand the sympathetic looks and curious points she would get when people would see her injuries.

In a show of solidarity, Bex had stopped going to parties at the clubhouse. She had no desire to see the guys that had caused Elle so much pain, but apart from that she had no idea how to help her friend. The days that Elle wasn't with her at the shop, she would come home from work and find her either sitting in the dark in the living room like a zombie, or passed out next to an empty bottle of vodka. She was really worried that she'd never be able to get past what happened to her, and a part of her couldn't help but blame herself in her part of introducing Elle to the Sons and bringing her into all of this in the first place.

Bex and Elle were talking in the store when Elle heard the door chime and jumped up from her perch at the counter, not even stopping to look at who had walked in. Whoever it was, she knew she didn't want to see them. Bex watched her go, a concerned look stretching across her face before turning to greet the customer. Her smile died before it reached her mouth as she realized who had walked in.

"We need to get our stuff back," Tig said, Juice, Opie, and Happy trailing behind him. Bex didn't move, still standing there with her arms crossed, as she looked between them all.

"You've got some nerve," she said, scowling at them.

"Just thought you'd want your money back," Tig responded, sliding an envelope full of cash across the counter to her. Bex ignored it, still staring them all down.

"Are you ever going to apologize for what happened to her? Do you even care?" she asked.

"What did she think was going to happen when she went to that hotel room?" Happy asked. Bex raised her eyebrows.

"Well I expect she didn't think she was going to get beat into unconsciousness, and then left to die," Bex spat angrily.

"She's not dead," Happy pointed out, "And maybe if she'd just done what she'd agreed to do, he wouldn't have had to get a little rough." Bex narrowed her eyes at Happy.

"A little rough? You don't even know what you're talking about," she growled.

"Enlighten us," Opie said, wanting to know the full story of what happened.

"She tried!" Bex yelled, "She went there with every intent of keeping her word to Jax of whoring herself out to save you guys a couple bucks, even though she didn't want to, as a favor to _you_. She tried to go along with it, but he didn't want her to. He wanted to rough her up, beat the shit out of her, and _rape_ her. She told me he said it was better that way – that he didn't forgive you your debts so she could enjoy it," she spat out. Opie and Juice, at least, had the decency to look horrified. Even Tig looked slightly taken aback at hearing about anyone being freakier than him. Happy just narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Then, when he was finished with her, he told his driver to kill her. Lucky for her, the guy had a fucking heart or conscious or whatever it is that all of _you _seem to be missing, and didn't go through with it, took her to the hospital instead. Otherwise she'd probably be buried in the woods somewhere," she added angrily.

"Shit," Juice said through clenched teeth.

"We didn't know," Tig said.

Bex shook her head, stalking off to the back to get their stuff and returned, slamming it on the counter as she grabbed the envelope of money Tig had passed her and counted it quickly.

"You're missing about 5 grand," she said.

"What?" Tig asked, "That's 25 thousand there." Bex shrugged.

"Yeah, well, now that my girl's got a shit ton of hospital bills to pay, I think she needs a raise, don't you?" she asked, "So standard interest rate applies, which is 20 percent." Happy looked like he was going to say something before Opie cut in.

"Just give it to her," he said, and Tig dug another $5000 out, grumbling.

"I hope the money was worth it," Bex said as they filed out of the store. Elle came back in a few minutes later and didn't mention a word about the Sons, so Bex followed her lead. Elle started helping Bex go through their inventory and was so wrapped up in her work that she didn't even notice the bells on the door jingle as it opened once again.

"Ho-ly shit," she heard and Bex and Elle both stood up, looking to the front of the store where Wendy stood, arms crossed and looking haughty, with Leslie and Amy behind her.

"Jesus Christ, I didn't think when Nik said he liked it rough he meant that rough," she said, a smirk across her face. Elle's eyes narrowed at her.

"What are you doing here?" Bex asked. Wendy raised her eyebrows in mock surprise.

"Oh, I'm just checking on one of my girls," she said, turning back to Elle. She shook her head, clicking her tongue.

"Tsk tsk tsk, he really did a number on you, didn't he?" she said, getting a good look at her face while Elle stood there, seething.

"What did you mean, when Nik said he liked it rough?" she asked through gritted teeth. Wendy shrugged, staring at her manicure.

"Just that when he asked me about you he said that's how he liked it," she said.

"He asked you about me?" Elle asked incredulously, feeling her anger, always so close to the surface these days, overwhelm her. She walked around the counter to stand in front of Wendy and Bex followed her. Wendy grinned maliciously at her and nodded.

"Sure. I told him you'd do whatever Jax wanted," she said, "Then made sure Nik wanted you bad enough to get Jax to want it, too." Elle's eyes widened and her only thought as she grabbed Wendy by the hair and pulled her back was that she wanted to beat the pretentious smirk right off this bitch's face.

Wendy screamed as Elle straddled her, getting one good punch into her face after the other. Wendy tried to bring her hands up to block her face but every bit of rage built up in Elle since that night was finally coming out and Wendy was no match. Leslie stood there with her mouth hanging open, watching the scene while Amy moved forward to try to intervene.

"Uh uh," Bex said warningly, taking a step towards her, "You let her go." Wendy continued to yell for help while they stood around, watching as Elle's tiny fists pummeled into Wendy's face.

"You. Stupid. Evil. BITCH!" Elle screamed as she got a hit onto Wendy's nose and blood started gushing down her face and into her mouth.

"Okay, Elle, I think that's good," Bex finally said, grabbing Elle around her waist while she was still kicking and flailing her arms about and lifting her off Wendy. Amy and Leslie helped Wendy stand and Elle got a good look at her. She knew there'd be two new black eyes once the bruising set in and she was mildly happy to see blood still pouring down her face. Wendy's hands were trying to stop it, but it was spilling out onto her shirt.

"You crazy bitch!" she screamed. Elle smiled and nodded.

"Sounds about right," she said.

"Now get the fuck out of my shop," Bex ordered. Wendy took one last glare at Elle before running out the door.

SOASOASOASOASOA

Jax paced the clubhouse smoking a cigarette, full of a rage he didn't know what to do with. Opie had just called to relay the conversation he'd had with Bex at the Pawn Shop and it was taking ever amount of control he had within him not to go tearing after that fucker and rip him apart, limb from limb.

Gemma walked into the clubhouse and watched Jax pacing the floor from the doorway, an angry scowl on his face.

"Are you just gonna pace until there's a hole in the floor or are you going to do something about it?" she finally asked him. He glanced up at her and she walked towards him, petting his cheek with her hand.

"There's nothing I can do, ma," he said angrily, "They voted against retaliation. I can't fucking touch him." Gemma looked thoughtfully at him.

"Well we'll just have to change their minds, won't we," she said. Jax looked at her curiously.

"How?" he asked. Gemma shrugged.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out, baby," she said, "Now come on, let me take you to lunch," she said.

"I don't really feel like going to lunch," Jax retorted. Gemma frowned.

"Your mother wants to have lunch with you, you go," she said, "I need to talk to you about some stuff. You can pick the restaurant." Jax sighed, rolling his eyes. There really was no saying no to his mother.

Jax had picked the diner on Main for lunch specifically because the pawn shop was on the way. He just wanted to see her, catch a glimpse, make sure she was okay. Gemma followed him to the diner in her car while he was on his bike and he slowed down slightly as he passed the pawn shop. He frowned as he noticed Sargent Roosevelt's car in front of the pawn shop and quickly pulled over as he saw Elle being escorted out of the shop in handcuffs. Roosevelt tucked her in to the backseat and hurried around to the driver's side before Jax could even pull over.

He hopped quickly off his bike, Gemma right behind him, to see Bex pacing the store, her face completely void of emotion.

"What just happened?" Jax asked. Bex turned to Jax, seeming to look right through him.

"You need to get your lapdog under control," she finally said, her voice even and eerily calm. Jax frowned.

"My lapdog? Who are you talking about?" he asked, though he had an idea.

"Wendy," Bex said, her voice low and steady, very unlike the angry Bex that had stormed into the clubhouse screaming at Jax, "That fucking cunt walked in here and told Elle that she was the one who told that Russian fucker that Elle would do whatever you said; told her to be as rough with her as he wanted."

"What!" Jax yelled.

"Yeah, so Elle beat the shit out of her," Bex said, her thin lipped mouth turning up slightly at the corners as she thought of Elle swinging her fists back. Gemma smirked. She knew she liked that girl.

"So, what, Wendy pressed charges?" Jax asked, incredulous, looking behind him through the windows at the sheriff car pulling away from the curb and putting two and two together.

"Yeah. You need to talk to the bitch, make sure she drops them," Bex said, staring at Jax, "It's the least you can do." Jax nodded, turning and running out of the shop, Gemma close on his heels.

"Go bail her out," Jax said as he snapped his helmet on under his head, "I'm gonna go take care of Wendy."

"Don't you wanna be the one to bail her out?" Gemma asked, an eyebrow raised knowingly. Jax shook his head.

"I just want her out of jail. She might not leave if I'm the one bailing her out. You know how it is," he told his mother pointedly. Gemma nodded. Yes, she did know how that was.

Jax revved his bike and peeled out of the parking lot, burning rubber as he turned to head in the opposite direction. He'd been to Wendy's a couple of times before Tara had come back. He just hoped she was still at the same place.

He knocked on the door and continued banging until Wendy finally answered. She had her sweater pulled up covering most of her face, but he could see her eyes were already turning black.

"What, Jax?" she asked.

"You know what," he said, waltzing into her apartment and grimacing as he looked around at the mess before turning back to look at her, "You need to drop the charges."

"What, and just let her get away with beating the shit out of me?" Wendy asked, "No way. She may have you under her little spell, but not me. She got what was coming to her with the Russian, and she got what was coming to her with Roosevelt." If Elle hadn't already done such a good job kicking Wendy's ass, Jax might have slammed her head into a wall. As it was, he stepped towards her, getting extremely close to her, almost whispering in her ear.

"No, you had what was coming to you, you stupid bitch. Elle didn't ask for what she got. You walked right in and practically begged her to beat the crap out of you. And if you don't drop the fucking charges, I will send someone over here until you do, and you'll wish all you had was a broken nose," he said menacingly. Wendy looked at Jax, wide eyed. He'd been pissed at her before, treated her like dirt on occasion, but he'd never threatened her like that.

"Jax," she said meekly. He shook his head, pulling out his phone and dialing the station before handing it to her.

"Here you go," he said, "Tell them you want to drop the charges." Wendy sighed and took the phone from his outstretched hand.

SOASOASOASOASOA

Gemma pulled up to the station several minutes after Elle had been taken in. She waltzed into the building and strode to the front counter, demanding to speak to Roosevelt. He came out several minutes later.

"Gemma Morrow," he said, "To what do I owe the pleasure this time?"

"I want to bail out Elle," she responded. Roosevelt raised his eyebrows.

"She hasn't even been processed yet," he said. Gemma leaned against the counter, an eyebrow raised cockily.

"Yeah, well, I've got a good feeling that any minute now the charges against her are going to be dropped, so stop wasting all of our time and let the poor girl out. Don't you think she's been through enough?" Gemma said.

"I'm sorry, Gemma, but someone filed a complaint. I can't just let her out because she's had a bad couple of weeks," he responded. He meant it when he said he was sorry, though, he really didn't want to keep the poor kid locked up.

The phone rang just then and Gemma smirked as the officer at the front desk answered it, looking back and forth between Gemma and Roosevelt as he talked to the person on the other end.

"She's right, Sheriff," he said, replacing the phone in the cradle, "Wendy Case just called and wants to drop the complaint. She'll be coming in soon to sign the forms."

"How about that?" Gemma said. Roosevelt looked at her and shrugged, motioning for her to follow him back to the holding cells. Elle was sitting in one of the cells alone on a bench by the wall, her head in her hands. She glanced up when she heard them walk up and stood, walking to the door. Roosevelt unlocked it.

"You're free to go, Elle," he said. She nodded and looked to Gemma, who tried not to wince as she got a good look at her injuries for the first time.

"Come on, baby, let's get you home," Gemma said, placing an arm around her shoulder and walking her outside.

They got in the car and spent the first couple of minutes in silence before Elle finally spoke.

"Thanks for giving me a ride," she said.

"Sure," Gemma responded, "You know, Elle, Jax is really upset over what happened to you. I've never seen him so angry." Elle scoffed slightly, staring out her window.

"Honestly, Gemma. I don't really care how Jax is feeling right now," she said stoically. Gemma looked over at her, sizing her up.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. Elle's shoulders sagged slightly as she shook her head slowly.

"How am I supposed to feel?" she whispered, almost talking to herself, "People keep asking me that and I just don't know. How am I supposed to feel when the guy I care about sells me to some psycho fuck that almost kills me?"

"So you still care about him?" Gemma asked. Elle stiffened as if she just realized it was Gemma she was talking to.

"What? No. I mean, I didn't say that," she mumbled.

"Yeah, you did," Gemma responded, "You said _care_, not cared." Elle sighed, leaning her head against the head rest.

"I don't know, Gemma. Even if I did, he made it perfectly clear what he thinks about me," she said.

"Well nobody ever said my son wasn't an idiot sometimes," Gemma responded, "But whatever you're thinking about how he sees you – you're wrong." Elle didn't know what to say to that. A week ago, she would have been on top of the world to hear those words. Now, however, they just seemed to make things worse.

"He didn't know what was going to happen, Elle," Gemma reminded her.

"It doesn't matter what he did or didn't know. I almost died because of him, because my feelings for him covered up every warning my head was screaming when I walked up to that hotel room. I should've trusted my instincts, I should've run. But I just …. I just didn't want to let Jax down, I guess," she finished, sighing. Gemma pursed her lips in thought as she pulled up to Elle's apartment.

"Here you go, baby," she said, "You gonna be okay by yourself?" Elle nodded.

"Yeah, Bex should be home soon," she mumbled, "Thanks again for the ride, Gemma." Gemma nodded and waved as Elle climbed out of the car and walked up to her apartment.

SOASOASOASOASOASOA

Gemma pulled into the Teller-Morrow lot and saw Jax's bike already there. She walked in and saw him sitting at the bar, as usual.

"So I take it things went well with Wendy," she said, taking a seat next to him.

"Yeah," he said, still staring at the bottle of vodka in his hand, "Did Roosevelt release Elle?" he asked.

"Yeah, I gave her a ride home," she said. He nodded, turning the bottle in his hand upside down in his mouth.

"Have you talked to her at all?" Gemma asked. Jax just shook his head, not in the mood to elaborate or talk about his feelings. All he really wanted to do was punch someone in the face.

"Well I have," Gemma said casually, "We had a nice little chat in the car."

"What, all about how I'm the biggest asshole on earth?" he asked gruffly.

"She said she cares about you," Gemma said and Jax ripped his eyes away from his bottle to look at his mother.

"What?" he asked, "She said that?" Gemma shrugged.

"Now don't get this wrong," Gemma said warningly, "I don't know if her feelings for you are enough to get over what was done to her, and your part in it. But I don't think she hates you as much as she wishes she did." Jax shook his head.

"She should hate me," he sighed, setting the bottle down and finally turning to look at his mother, "How do I fix this?" Gemma looked at him, frowning slightly.

"You messed up big time, Jax," she said, "There might not be a way to fix this."

"So, what? I shouldn't even try?" he asked. Gemma shook her head.

"I didn't say that," she said, "Just don't expect her to rush into your arms because you flash her some cute smile of yours. You're gonna have to figure out something good if you want to be with her, because 'I'm sorry' just ain't gonna cut it."

"I've got to get Lenevsky," Jax growled. Gemma nodded.

"Yeah, you do," she said, looking him dead in the eye.

"But the club voted it down," he reminded her. Gemma nodded.

"Yeah, well, you leave that to me," she said, "I have a feeling they'll come around." She gave Jax a kiss before turning and walking out of the clubhouse.

******A/N As always, please review! **


	10. Snow White confronts the Prince

Jax watched Gemma walk out of the clubhouse, his mind whirring as he thought of any way to change the club's decision, but he came up blank. He finally put the cigarette out in an ashtray, hoping a ride might help clear his head, calm him down so he could figure out what to do.

He jumped on his bike, no destination in mind, and ended up in front of the hospital. He walked inside and went straight to the billing counter as if his legs were guiding him that way. If he couldn't retaliate, he wanted to at least feel like he was doing _something_ for Elle.

"I'd like to pay someone's hospital bills," he told the girl at the counter, who nodded.

"Name?" she asked. Jax paused. Shit. He didn't know her last name, had never bothered to ask.

"Um, it's Lauren, she goes by Elle," he stated, recalling Elle's screaming match with her ex. The girl looked at him like he had just taken crazy pills.

"Last name?" she asked. Jax shook his head.

"I don't know it," he said.

"Do you know how many Lauren's we have in our system?" she asked. Jax sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"She's got black hair, about 5'4," he started, hoping if he described her she might recognize her. The girl shook her head.

"I don't see many of the patients until they come to pay their bills," she said.

"She came in here about a week ago, she was… raped," the word hung in his mouth, disgusting, "Beaten up pretty badly. She was in room 1102," he added hopefully.

"Oh yeah, I remember her," she said, a frown creasing her face, "Poor girl. I felt so bad for her." Jax sighed, wondering if the girl wanted to twist the knife in his heart any deeper. Instead, she turned back to her computer, typing on her keyboard.

"Lauren Haywood," she said and Jax nodded, relieved.

"It looks like her bill has already been taken care of. The balance was paid in full earlier today," the girl said.

"By who?" Jax asked. The girl looked at him.

"I'm sorry, I can't really give out that kind of information," she said hesitantly. Jax flashed a grin, leaning over the counter seductively.

"Come on, darlin," he drawled, "That girl means a lot to me. I just want to know who I should be thanking for helping her out." The girl couldn't help but smile back at him. She looked around to make sure no one was near.

"The name he left was Hunter Jacobs," she said. Jax frowned. Who the hell was Hunter Jacobs? He tried to remember what her ex's name was. He was pretty sure she'd called him Clark.

"Alright, well, thanks," he said, turning around and walking back out of the hospital. His prepay rang as he walked to his bike and he answered it.

"Mayans asked for a sit down," Opie said as soon as Jax opened the phone. Jax sighed. They'd just delivered a shipment of guns to them two days ago and he really wasn't looking forward to having to deal with them again so soon.

"When?" Jax asked.

"Tonight, Hairy Dog," Opie replied.

"They say why?" Jax asked.

"Said they had a problem with the shipment," Opie said.

"Shit," Jax muttered, "Okay, we'll go in together."

SOASOASOASOASOA

"I just got a call from the hospital," Elle said as Bex walked into the living room in a robe, her hair wrapped in a towel atop her head.

"Oh yeah, what about?" she asked.

"They said someone paid the rest of my balance in full," she told her, "You really didn't have to do that." Bex took the towel off her head, rubbing it in her hair to dry it.

"Wasn't me, sweetie," she said. Elle frowned.

"If it wasn't you…" she said, her voice trailing off. She knew exactly who it was. Well if he thought paying a few grand was going to make up for what he'd sent her off to do, he was sorely mistaken. Bex spoke up hesitantly.

"I was thinking about maybe grabbing a drink at the Hairy Dog tonight," she said carefully, "If you think you'd be up for it. If not, we can stay in, maybe rent a movie or something, I just thought I'd ask…." She said, her voice trailing off. Elle looked up at her and slowly nodded.

"Yeah, that could be okay," she said, "Maybe even fun." Bex grinned.

"Really?" she asked, "Are you sure?" Elle nodded.

"I've had my time to sulk. I need to get over it. I'm not gonna be a victim anymore. I'm not gonna let that fucker change my life. Well, except for one thing," she added, her mind on the 9mm Beretta pistol sitting snug in her purse that she'd bought from the pawn shop the day after she'd been released from the hospital.

"Awesome!" Bex exclaimed cheerfully, happy her friend was taking the baby steps to getting back out there.

An hour later, they made their way to the Hairy Dog. Elle had tried to look presentable but casual, in jeans and a v-neck tshirt. The swelling on her face had gone down and the cut above her eye had nearly healed. You could barely see the bruises on her cheeks anymore, but she still had the outline of that fucker's hand imprinted on her neck and short of a turtle neck, there was no hiding it. Elle wondered if there'd ever be a day that she looked in the mirror and didn't see the hand print.

She walked in behind Bex and went straight for a table in a dark corner of the bar while Bex went to get their drinks. Bex returned a couple minutes later with a vodka seven for Elle and a beer for herself and sat down. Elle took her drink and tossed it back, setting the empty glass back on the table. Bex looked at her, concerned.

"Stop looking at me like that," Elle said, "It makes me feel worse when you do." Bex tried to smile and nod.

"Okay, sorry," she said, trying to wipe all concern from her face.

"So I overheard you talking to Tig and the others today at the shop," Elle said, stirring the ice around in her glass with a straw.

"I'm sorry, Elle. I didn't mean to over-share there, I was just so mad that they didn't know what had really happened, that they thought it could possibly be your fault," Bex said apologetically. Elle shook her head.

"No, it's okay," she said, "At least now they know what really happened. Maybe they can share in some of my sleepless nights," she added bitterly. She looked casually to the door and felt her heart start racing as she saw Opie and Jax walk through the door.

"How fucking small is this town?" she muttered under her breath, trying to disappear into the shadows. Bex looked over and her eyes narrowed as she spotted the Sons.

"Don't worry, you don't have to talk to them," she said firmly, silently praying they wouldn't even notice they were there. No such luck. Almost as soon as the boys walked up to the bar, Opie looked around the room and noticed Bex and Elle sitting at the table. He patted Jax on the shoulder, pointing at the girls and Jax turned.

Elle watched him, a part of her wanting more than anything for him to walk over to their table. And then she felt a twinge of pain as she hit one of her bruises on the edge of the table and remembered that she hated him more than she'd hated anyone in her life. More than she hated Clark.

Jax said something to Opie and turned to walk in their direction. Bex moved to get up from the booth and intercept him, but Elle reached her hand out, holding her back.

"It's okay," she said, digging her wallet out of purse and hurriedly scrawling out a check, "I have something I need to say to him anyway."

Jax paused in his walk to Elle's table, seeing her get up and walk towards him, something in her hand. Despite the bruises that still lined her face and neck, he still couldn't believe how beautiful she was. But when she stood before him, her eyes, which used to be filled with wonder and excitement whenever she looked at him, were now empty. He would've given anything at that moment to have her look at him as she had before all of this had happened.

He started to say something to her, but before he could, she shoved a check into his hand.

"I know you paid my hospital bills," she said angrily, "As if that could just fix everything. Well I don't need your blood money," she spat at him. Jax looked down at the check and back up at her.

"Elle, it wasn't me," he said. Elle had a retort ready, but that wasn't what she had expected to hear. He handed the check back to her, his finger brushing hers.

"Of course it was you," Elle said stubbornly, trying to force the check back into his hands, "Who else would it have been?" she asked. Jax shook his head, refusing to take the check.

"I don't know," he replied, "Listen, Elle, I wanted to-" But Elle interrupted him.

"No," she said, "I don't want to hear anything you've got to say. I don't want to hear that you're sorry, or that you didn't know this was going to happen, or whatever other bullshit you think you can come up with to smooth this over. Your empty words cannot fix this." And she turned on her heel heading back to the table which Bex was now standing by, watching the exchange with narrowed eyes. Jax followed her to the table.

"Elle," he called as Elle stood by Bex.

"Jesus, Jax, you have your own bar to go to. Can't you guys just leave?" Bex asked, arms crossed and very annoyed.

"I have business here," Jax retorted testily. Bex smirked, but there was no humor behind it.

"Yeah, it's always about business with you, isn't it?" she asked as Elle just shook her head.

"Fine, then we'll go," Elle said, leading Bex outside, Jax following closely behind.

"Can I just please talk to you?" he asked when they were standing on the sidewalk outside the bar. He didn't really have any idea what he wanted to say to her. Elle was right - 'I'm Sorry' just seemed like empty words. What he _really_ wanted to tell her was that he was going to find the fucker that did this and gut him from the inside out, and it killed him that he couldn't tell her exactly that.

Elle shook her head.

"I have absolutely nothing to say to you," she said, and led Bex down the street towards her car.

Jax watched them walk away, his mind full of all his shit and his guard down. As he turned to walk back into the bar, three Mexicans in Mayan cuts walked up to Jax.

"She may not want to talk to you, but we sure do," one of them said as the other two each grabbed one of Jax's arms before he could reach for his gun and punched him in the gut. He keeled over, struggling to get out of their grasp.

"What the fuck?" he spat angrily, trying to twist his arms out of their grip.

"Our order was 10 guns short, ese," the first one sneered in his ear before punching him in the jaw and drawing his gun, aiming it at his right foot, clearly just trying to send a message. He cocked the gun, his finger on the trigger as he said, "We're gonna need you to fix this in 24 hours, or it won't be your foot we get next time." He said. Jax smirked at them as he braced himself for the shot, but dropped all pretense of cockiness as he saw Elle walk up behind the Mayan that was holding the gun and press her own gun against his temple.

"Vamanos," she stated calmly. The two Mayans looked at her in disbelief, looking at each other as though unsure what to do.

"Let him go!" she shrieked, digging her gun harder into the side of his head. They relaxed their grip slightly on Jax's arms, enough for him to yank himself out of their grip and whip his own gun out, holding it in point blank range of one of the Mayans that had been holding his arm. The Mayan with his gun pointed at Jax held it up in surrender, finger pressed flush against the side of the weapon and away from the trigger, still staring at Jax.

"Sons protected by their whores now?" he asked as Elle cocked her gun, her finger on the trigger.

"Alright alright," he said, slowly backing away from Jax and Elle, the other two behind him. He looked pointedly at Jax, "This isn't over. You remember what I told you. This needs to be fixed by tomorrow."

And they turned and walked away. Jax looked up at Elle, rubbing his jaw where he had been hit.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said. She shrugged.

"I don't want to have anything to do with you, Jackson. And that includes having your blood on my hands," she said as she began to walk away, "Clearly, the feeling is not mutual."

Jax rushed forward, grabbing her hand and pulling her back to face him. He looked into her face, which was livid with anger, all directed at him.

"I want to make this right," he said, a pleading note in his voice, "I didn't want anything like this to happen to you." She jerked her hand out of his grasp, still glaring at him.

"Good luck with that," she said, some of her anger replaced with sadness, "Because I just don't know how you could possibly make this right."

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**A/N Thanks so much to all my reviewers and everyone that is reading this story! Every review you leave puts a BIG smile on my face! Please let me know if you're still liking the story by reviewing! **


	11. The Huntsman begins his revenge

**A/N WOW! I cannot tell you how much all of your reviews, alerts, and favorites meant to me! So I'm posting this a little sooner than I had thought I would to say thanks to my readers and reviewers for being SO AWESOME!**

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The times Gemma enjoyed most was when she had a mission – something to work toward. Ever since Jax had become president, she'd felt like these times had become fewer and far between. But now she had a new one. If anything was going to get Elle to forgive Jax, it was going to be Jax killing that son of a bitch. Gemma just had to find a way to make the club see that that was in the best interest for everybody.

And the way to do that would be to show everyone what he was capable of. What he'd done. She walked into the hospital with purpose, strolling the corridors until she spotted her victim: a young intern walking along the corridor by himself, clearly not in any hurry. Gemma immediately scrunched up her face and ran up to him, throwing her arms around the intern's waist and bawling into his shoulder.

"Oh thank you so much!" she cried. The startled intern froze for a second before awkwardly patting her on the back.

"Um… you're welcome?" he said questioningly. Gemma sobbed into his shoulder some more while her hands did some digging.

"You saved him!" she cried, as she managed to get her hand in the intern's pocket, "You saved my son's life! How can I ever repay you?" She felt her hand grasp what she was looking for and slid it out between two fingers.

"Oh, uh, you know, all in a day's work," the intern said, clearly having no idea who she was or who he had saved.

"Well, God bless you," Gemma said, pulling away and patting him on the back. The intern nodded, looking quizzically at her, before walking off. Gemma smirked at his retreating back, sliding his access card into her back pocket.

She wandered around the hospital until she found the records room and used the key card to gain access before walking through. She dug through the files until she found the one marked Lauren Haywood and pulled it out. Taking a quick look around, she shoved it in her bag and scurried out of the room and back out of the hospital.

SOASOASOASOASOASOA

Jax had called an emergency meeting to try to figure out why he had gotten jumped by some goddamn Mayans who thought they'd messed up their order. They were all discussing it. Each member in charge of that particular distribution swore up and down on their lives that all the guns were in the shipment and that some of the Mayans must have been greedy bastards and stolen the 10 guns from the club. Jax was obviously more inclined to believe them than the Mexicans. Unfortunately, this meant a sit down with Alvarez and he really hated that fucker.

The door to the chapel burst open and his mother stood in the doorway. Jax half stood, worried. The only time she ever interrupted them was when she had bad news. But instead of announcing some imminent threat, she waltzed into the room, throwing down some photographs in the middle of the table.

"I thought you boys might want to make an informed decision for once," she said, before turning and walking out. He raised his eyebrows, looking questioningly at Clay who just shrugged.

"Do I ever know what she's up to?" he asked. Jax leaned forward and picked up the photographs. He flipped through them until he was thoroughly disgusted before slamming them back down in the table.

"The pictures the hospital took to document Elle's injuries," Jax said, motioning to them. He knew he was the only one who had seen her up close. Maybe his mom was right – maybe this would be enough to get him the retaliation he so desperately craved.

One by one, the photos went around the table, documenting every injury she had sustained. There was barely a square inch on her body that wasn't either bruised or bloody. By the time they'd gone around the table, Jax looked at them all, his face set.

"Now do you see why I wanted to retaliate?" he asked, "You guys fucking vote and let _this_ happen, and then all of you sit there, not wanting to fix your own mistakes."

"Are you still trying to say this is the only reason?" Tig asked. Jax turned to look at him, eyebrows raised.

"You got something to say, just say it," he said.

"I'm saying that even you have done damage to pussy that crossed you the wrong way before, so forgive me for being confused as to why all of a sudden you want to start a war over some fucking croweater," he retorted.

"I think it's pretty clear she's not just a goddamn croweater!" Jax bellowed, his temper rising. Tig smirked.

"And he finally admits it!" he crowed to the table. Jax sat back in his chair, seething.

"You can try to blame this on us all you want, but this is not on the club," Piney stated, "If you'd been honest with us, and with yourself, from the start about why you were voting it down, you know it wouldn't have gone down that way. Handle your shit, we'll help you how we can."

"So can we do something about it now?" Jax asked.

"I still say it would be stupid to start a war with him," Clay said from the other end of the table, "He's got too many connections he could use. It would turn really bloody, really fast."

"So we just end our connection with him. No longer do business with him. It'll hurt him bad in his wallet, and we won't have to start an all out war," Opie suggested, hoping Jax could live with the compromise.

"Yeah, but it'll hurt us in our wallets too," Tig pointed out.

"I don't care," Opie said, shrugging, "We'll go back to the IRA, we'll figure something out. He's clearly a sick fuck and I don't think the Sons should have anything to do with him."

"He's a sick fuck that needs to die," Jax said exasperatedly.

"She wasn't an old lady, Jax. We can't start a war over this. Sorry, brother," Chibs said. Jax sighed, sitting back in his chair, nodding.

"Okay, Opie, Tig, set up a meeting for this afternoon. Let him know we're not dealing with him anymore," Jax ordered.

"You're not coming?" Opie asked.

"You'll have to represent me. I walk in a room with him, he's not walking out," Jax said, his mouth set in a thin line.

SOASOASOASOASOA

Opie and Tig rode out to the Caravelle hotel that night to have their sit down with Nik. He opened the door for them and they walked in, taking a seat on the couch in the room while Nik sat across from them in an arm chair, looking stony-faced and calculating.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, "I'm not expecting another shipment for at least two months."

"We won't be needing your shipments anymore," Opie replied, "We're going in a new direction." Nik raised his eyebrows, his cruel eyes looking deep into Opie.

"This was a mutually beneficial relationship. I expected to continue to have the Sons of Anarchy running guns for me," Nik replied.

"Like I said, we're going in a new direction," Opie replied, his voice gravelly.

"May I ask why you are so suddenly breaking our agreement?" Nik asked, his tone light but his face wrathful.

"We don't like the way you do business," Tig replied.

"Are you dissatisfied with the product?" Nik asked.

"No, the product's fine," Tig responded.

"Then what could possibly have caused you all to have such a change of heart?" Nik asked ruefully.

"The girl," Opie finally said, "You should know that the Sons of Anarchy don't do business that way."

"What about the girl?" Nik asked, "I haven't seen her since she left here. I don't know where she went."

"She went to the hospital," Tig replied, seeing the first sign of genuine surprise flash across Nik's face, followed by anger.

"Guess you didn't know she was still alive," Opie commented and Nik glared at him.

"You break our agreement, it will be very bad for the Sons," Nik responded angrily.

"The only reason we're not here killing you now is because we don't want to start a war," Tig said, leaning in closer to Nik, "Just give us a reason." Tig and Opie stood.

"We'll show ourselves out," Opie said as they walked to the door.

Nik sat in the room, seething. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket, dialing and barking at his driver to come up to the room.

SOASOASOASOASOA

Jax sat in his dorm room at the clubhouse waiting for Opie and Tig's call to let him know how the meeting went. He hated this. All he wanted to do was punch the fucker in the face before putting a bullet between his eyes, and instead he was sitting here waiting for word that the fucker played nice. His prepay finally rang and he answered it.

"It's good," Opie said.

"He still alive?" Jax asked. Opie paused before answering.

"Yes," he said hesitatingly.

"Then it's not fucking good," Jax said before closing his phone. He grabbed his keys and walked quickly out of the clubhouse to his bike. Once again, he had no destination in mind, but figured he knew where he'd probably wind up. He tried to avoid it, but after an hour of driving around aimlessly, he headed back in the direction of the pawn shop. He'd gotten into a habit recently of driving by it, just to see if he could catch a glimpse of her.

As he turned onto Main Street, he saw the flashing lights of several police cars and an ambulance all parked outside the pawn shop. He almost flipped his bike from stopping so abruptly when he saw the medical examiner wheel a gurney out, a body bag fully zipped being loaded into the back of the ambulance. Jax felt his heart stop as he nearly tripped over his bike, rushing to the door to try to find out what happened.

'Please God, please don't let it be Elle,' he thought furiously to himself, shoving past people to try to get inside the shop. He looked around furiously, but the shop was filled with people. Panic set in as he didn't see her. He finally spotted Bex in the corner, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed against her chest, staring at the ceiling.

"Where is she?" Jax asked, the fear evident in his voice. Bex stared at him a second, her eyes narrowed.

"She doesn't want to see you," she responded, and Jax felt relief flood through his body. He felt the breath he didn't know he'd been holding release.

"She's alive," he stated, and that's when he saw her, standing at the window, her face pressed against the glass, staring outside at the chaos surrounding the store. Jax strode over to her, not giving two shits whether she wanted to see him or not, and grabbed her arm, pulling her into a hug. He just wanted to feel her heart beat, hear her breathe.

Elle struggled against him at first, trying to jerk herself out of his grasp, and then she broke down, collapsing into him and sobbing. Jax rested his chin on the top of her head, rubbing her back, trying to tell her everything would be okay when he had no idea what was wrong in the first place. If that body bag didn't contain Elle or Bex, who the hell was it?

After several minutes, Elle pulled away from him, taking a few steps back, still having trouble being around Jax.

"Elle, what happened?" he asked gently. She shook her head, turning to walk away. He grabbed her hand and Bex rushed up.

"You should go, Jax," she said, "Now."

"I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me who the hell was in that body bag!" he yelled, standing across from Bex as they glared at each other. Elle started sobbing uncontrollably and Jax and Bex both turned to look at her, each rushing to comfort her.

"Th-this is a-all m-my fault," Elle said through her sobs as she leaned against the wall to continue standing upright. She took a few deep breaths to try and steady her voice, "It was N-Nik's driver, Hunter. He saved my life. And Nik killed him and dumped the body outside the store. He had so many stab wounds I barely recognized him," she finished in a whisper.

"Hunter?" Jax repeated, "Hunter Jacobs?" Elle shrugged, looking at him, tears still spilling from her eyes.

"I don't know, why?" she asked.

"That's the name of the guy who paid your hospital bills," he said. Elle sank to the floor, her knees pulled tight into her chest.

"He saved my life," she repeated, mumbling, "And I never got to say thank you." She looked up at Bex, "I have to go to the funeral. It'll probably be in San Francisco." Jax and Bex both raised their eyebrows.

"What? No way!" Jax said, not wanting to let her out of his sight. He knew Nik's game by now. Hunter was just the appetizer. He was saving Elle for the main course, and no way was he going to let that happen.

"I have to!" Elle wailed, "He has two kids… and a wife. I have to go, I have to apologize! I never even got the chance to thank him for saving my life."

"If you go, I'm going with you," Jax said firmly. Elle narrowed her eyes at him, but it was Bex that responded.

"You're not going anywhere with her," she spat at him, "We don't need you."

"YES, you do!" Jax yelled, "Don't you realize what just happened? Elle will be next! You know she needs our help. She needs us to protect her." Bex stared at him, her eyes wide but calculating. She looked down at Elle, who shook her head.

"I'll be fine," she grumbled, "I don't need you to protect me."

"What, you think your little Beretta is gonna be a match for Nik? Next time it's gonna be you in that body bag, and I don't care if I have to kidnap you and chain you up inside the clubhouse, I'm NOT going to let that happen," he growled.

"He's right, Elle," Bex said, sighing as Jax raised his eyebrows in surprise, "This guy is clearly not finished. This was a message to you. And as much as I love you, I can't protect you like the Sons can. Let them – they owe it to you." Elle sniffled, looking up at her friend.

"Fine," she said, "But I'm not going to the clubhouse." Jax shrugged.

"You can stay at my house," he said.

"I'm not staying there either," Elle scoffed. Jax ran a hand through his hair, begging himself not to blow up at her in frustration.

"Fine," he finally said, "You can stay at your apartment. But a Son is gonna be crashing on your couch every night until we find Nik." Elle opened her mouth to protest but Jax interrupted her, "Not up for discussion, Elle. I know I'm not your favorite person right now, and you have every right to hate me for as long as you want. But I'm not gonna let you get killed because you're pissed at me." Elle stared at him, her eyes narrowed, then finally rolled her eyes, giving in.

"Fine," she agreed. Jax nodded curtly and walked out of the shop. He didn't care what it took or what it cost. He was going to find that Russian bastard and he was going to kill him.

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**A/N Please continue to review! Let me know how you liked the chapter and if you like where it seems the story is headed! :) **


	12. The funeral

**A/N Thank you once again for all of your reviews and opinions about this story, and I'm so glad so many of you are still reading and still liking it! **

**I did want to address some of the reviews I got on the last few chapters, just so y'all know where I'm coming from when I set out to write this story. **

**I do understand that parts of this story require a bit of suspension of reality from real MC life. I am not the genius that is Kurt Sutter, nor do I want to try to pretend to be, nor do I have any extra knowledge of the workings of MCs aside from watching SOA. I took what I know of the show and created my own world with it, while still trying to stay as true to the original characters as I could with what I wanted to do with the story. Do I think Jax would really fall for a croweater in the show, even if Tara did leave? No. Is it more fun to work it that way into the story? For me, yes.**

**So I hope that doesn't take away from your enjoyment with the story, but if it does, I'm really sorry! **

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"Are they ever going to leave you alone?" Bex asked Elle as they sat at their usual seats at the counter of the pawn shop, staring at Bobby who was currently guarding the doors of the shop. Elle shook her head.

"Nope, I've tried," she said, sighing. Elle had pretty much been confined to her apartment and the pawn shop for the last few days and she was getting restless, and tired of not having a second to herself. Jax had had a patch on her every second of the day, including sitting around the shop when she was at work.

She had half a mind to tell Jax to take his protection detail and shove it up his ass, not that he would have listened to her. But if she was honest with herself, finding Hunter's dead body in front of the shop had shaken her pretty bad. At least with the Sons around she felt safe, albeit annoyed.

"Hey, Bobby!" Bex called. He looked up and walked into the shop.

"Yeah?" he said.

"As long as you're here, you can at least help out," she said, "We've got some boxes that need to be put up." Bobby frowned.

"I'm just supposed to watch the door," he said. Elle stood, grasping her side.

"You know, I'd do it but I've got these bruised ribs that just don't seem to want to heal," she said, wincing. Bobby rolled his eyes but grinned in spite of himself, moving forward into the shop.

"Yeah, sure you do," he said, walking behind the counter to grab some of the boxes. Elle grinned and sat back down next to Bex, while they watched Bobby do their heavy lifting. She heard the bell on the door jingle and glanced up to see Jax walking through the door.

Elle's heart still skipped a beat every time she saw him, but now instead of giving her butterflies it just pissed her off. She was so angry that he could still have that kind of effect on her when she didn't see any way she could ever forgive him, and even more angry that she couldn't seem to shake her feelings for him. She would have given anything to not want to rush into his arms the second he stepped in the room, have him embrace her, kiss her, make love to her; because it was never going to happen.

"I got the information on Hunter's funeral," he announced as he strode up to the counter.

"When is it?" she asked.

"It's day after tomorrow, but it's not in San Francisco," he said, "It's going to be held in Monterey. Apparently that's where all his family lives." Elle nodded. Monterey was about a 4 hour drive from Charming, but she could still do it in a day.

"You know, you really don't have to come," she said, half hoping he would agree, the other half hoping he would insist on coming. He looked at her pointedly, shaking his head.

"I'm not letting you go out there by yourself with Lenevsky still out there," he said.

"I won't be alone, Bex will be with me," Elle said, "Right, Bex?"

"Actually, I can't go," Bex said, sighing, "I'm shorthanded at the shop this weekend, and with you gone… I've got to stay." Elle sighed and turned back to Jax as a thought occurred to her.

"What about Bex?" she asked.

"What about me?" Bex asked.

"Nik killed Hunter for saving my life, he could be going after the people I care about next, and Bex would be at the top of that list," Elle said, suddenly starting to panic.

"We'll put a patch on her, don't worry," Jax told her, slightly calming her down.

"Oh no you won't," Bex said, "I don't need a babysitter, okay? I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Bex, please," Elle begged, turning to her, "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." Bex sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Fine," she grumbled, glancing back at Bobby and then back at Jax, "But I want Tig."

"I'll see what I can do," Jax said grinning and Bex reluctantly returned the smile. He looked through the door at Bobby.

"Hey, Bobby, don't forget – we're at the table at 6 tonight. I'll send the prospect by to relieve you," Jax said. Bobby grunted in response and Jax patted the counter.

"Alright, well I guess I'll see you in a couple days," he said to Elle.

"I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" she said.

"No you do not," Jax said, before heading back out of the shop.

SOASOASOASOASOA

"I'm taking Elle down to Monterey this weekend to go to the funeral," Jax announced at chapel that night.

"No fuckin way are you going to Monterey by yourself," Tig stated, "We don't know how much heat this guy's got out there." Ever since Jax had told the club about Nik dumping his driver's body at Elle's doorstep, they'd decided the world would be better off without him, after all. The problem was, Nik had disappeared off the face of the earth, and they were all on edge wondering when he might try to resurface.

Jax sighed. He had really wanted to try to use this time in Monterey to talk to Elle, and that was going to be difficult with a bunch of guys around.

"Alright, fine, Opie, you're comin' with," Jax said.

"My buddy Frank from the 512 says they got a charter down in Monterey. Might be good to reach out, try to expand the business. I could go and talk to them with you," Happy suggested. Jax frowned. He hadn't really planned on this being a business trip, but he had to admit, it was a good idea. They needed to find more gangs willing to buy the smaller arms that were easier for SAMCRO to get a hold of, especially since they'd just lost the Russian connection to the larger guns and needed something to keep the afloat in the meantime.

"Alright, Opie and Happy then," Jax said.

"What? I'm going, too," Tig insisted.

"Nah, I told Bex you'd stay here and watch out for her. She asked for you specifically," Jax told him. Tig grinned.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, "Which one's Bex again?" As the sons all groaned he held his hands up, "Just kidding. Alright, yeah, I'll keep an eye on Perky."

SOASOASOASOASOA

The day of the funeral, Jax, Opie, and Happy rode up to Elle's apartment on their bikes to pick her up. Elle walked down the stairs wearing a plain black dress and heels to meet Jax and stopped, eyeing Opie and Happy.

"I wasn't aware this was going to be a field trip," she said to Jax.

"We're gonna have to take care of something while we're down there," he explained. Elle shrugged and nodded, digging her car keys out of her purse and moving towards her car.

"Uh-uh," Jax said, "You're riding with me. I don't want you out there alone." Elle rolled her eyes.

"Jesus, Jax, you'll be right behind me, I'm sure," she said. He shook his head.

"I'm wearing a dress, I can't ride on a motorcycle for 4 hours in a dress," she pointed out.

"Then go change," he said. When Elle just stood there, staring at him incredulously, he shrugged, "We'll wait." She sighed exasperatedly and walked back upstairs to her apartment to pull jeans and a tank top on, grabbing a bag to fold her dress into; she'd change when they got there.

She walked back out and saw Jax leaning against his bike, handing her a helmet. She rolled her eyes and took the helmet from him. He grinned at her and she glared back before walking over to Opie's bike, climbing on behind him and buckling the helmet under her chin.

Opie looked apologetically at Jax and shrugged slightly as Elle wrapped her arms around his waist. Jax glared at them; this was not the way that was supposed to go down. He stood there for a second while Elle avoided looking at him.

"Let's go," he finally said as got on his bike, revving it up before leading the way out of the parking lot.

SOASOASOASOASOA

They arrived at the funeral just in time and Elle ran to the bathroom to change before walking into the chapel and finding seats with the boys in the back. Quite a crowd had shown up; it was clear Hunter had been well liked. Elle watched as one by one, members of the crowd stood to say a few words. Elle's eyes landed on the woman in the front row, tears falling silently and endlessly down her face, a little boy and girl on either side of her. She knew that must be his wife and kids and she felt her heart break as she watched them.

If it wasn't for Elle, their dad, that woman's husband, would still be alive. She felt sick to her stomach and was worried for a moment she'd throw up. But the nausea blew past, followed by utter sadness. Once her tears began to fall, she couldn't stop them from coming and she sat in the pew, silently sobbing.

After the funeral, Elle insisted on going to the burial. This was usually for close friends and family, but she desperately wanted to be there. She wanted to pay her respects until she was completely out.

"Alright, Happy and I will go meet with the 512s," Jax said reluctantly as they walked out of the church, "Opie, take Elle to the burial. We'll meet you there when we're done." Opie nodded and Jax watched Elle walk off with him, once again climbing onto his bike. It ripped his damn heart out to see her so sad, and that he wasn't the one she wanted to be around. He sighed and followed Happy out to the meeting.

Elle and Opie watched the burial from afar. They weren't close to the family and didn't feel right standing with the group, but Elle wanted to watch. Her eyes never left Hunter's wife unless it was to glance at his two kids. Lauren and Colin. That's what he'd said their names were. She watched as a line formed by the casket and one by one, everyone placed a flower on top. Hunter's wife had to lift Colin up, and she watched as the tiny boy dropped a flower onto the casket. Once everyone had taken their places again, they began lowering the casket. His wife burst into tears as she watched her husband sink lower into the ground and several minutes later the crowd began to disperse.

She didn't know what made her do it, but as if her legs had a mind of their own they had set off in the direction of his wife. She stood above her, still sitting in her chair, her kids still on either side of her. She glanced up when she saw Elle walk her way.

"Hi… um… you don't know me, but my names El- er, Lauren," she said, glancing at the young girl whom she knew shared her real name, "I didn't know your husband very well, but he saved my life a few weeks ago, and I… I never got the chance to thank him. I just- I just wanted to tell you that." His wife nodded, smiling meekly through her tears.

"Thank you, Lauren," she said in almost a whisper. Elle smiled sadly at her, then at the kids, and walked back in the direction she'd come from. She passed Opie and walked further into the graveyard, not stopping until she came to a tree, dropping her bag on the ground in front of it and sliding down slowly against it until she was sitting on the ground, leaning against the trunk. Opie followed her soon after and took a seat next to her.

Jax drove up to the graveyard a couple hours later with Happy, expecting Opie and Elle to be waiting for them in the parking lot, but there was no sign of them. The meeting with the 512's had taken a lot longer than he had expected, but it had been a successful meeting and he was glad of at least one piece of good news to take back to the club.

"Stay here, see if they come back this way," Jax told Happy, who nodded, leaning against his bike with his arms crossed as Jax made his way through the graveyard. He finally spotted Opie and Elle sitting on the grass, leaning against a tree, talking. He stood a ways away, watching them. She looked upset, and he couldn't hear what she was saying from here, but it looked like she was talking Opie's ear off. Opie reached over, putting a hand around her shoulder and pulling her into him and she cried into his shoulder.

Jax watched the exchange, almost trembling with jealousy. It wasn't that he thought anything would happen with Elle and Opie – he knew Opie too well for that. It was the fact that she was talking to him, spilling her guts to him, when she would barely look at Jax. He wanted to be the one to comfort her, the one she felt safe with.

Elle sniffled as she pulled back from Opie, staring out at the graveyard.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked and he nodded, looking over at her. She sighed, not really knowing where to start, "This whole thing with Nik, I just don't even understand how it happened. Jax said the club needed me to go over there. Did you all just sit around and decide I'd be the one?" Opie sighed and shook his head, leaning back against the tree.

"No, he wanted you," he replied, "Went to Jax and asked if he could have you." He turned to look her in the eye, "None of us knew what was going to happen. The vote would never have gone down that way if we knew what he was like." Elle nodded; this was nothing she hadn't heard before.

"Jax didn't want to, you know," Opie added, "This is not on Jax. He was just being a good president, and a good president does what the club needs him to do. He was shot down, 2-7." Elle looked down at her hands. So Jax _had_ been against it from the start.

"2 to 7? Who else voted against it?" she asked. Opie shrugged.

"I stood behind Jax. Even if he wouldn't admit the real reason he didn't want you to go, I don't think even to himself, I've known him long enough to know how he felt about you," he said.

"And then when Nik…. Afterwards? What did they think then?" she asked. Opie sighed.

"Jax wanted blood, Elle. He was fucking livid. He wanted to kill him – bad. But the rest of the club was worried about retaliation. Once the rest of us saw what happened to you, we decided to stop doing business with him," he said.

"And now?" she asked. Opie reached over, cupping her chin in his hand.

"And now? Oh, we're gonna gut the fucker," he said. Elle gave him a tiny smile, her own blood lust surprising her slightly, and leaned into him.

"Thanks, Ope," she said, "For everything."

Jax couldn't watch them anymore and slowly made his way over to Opie and Elle as they glanced up at his approach.

"We need to get going if we're going to make it back tonight," Jax said, not being able to keep the curtness out of his tone. Opie nodded and stood, holding his hand out to help Elle up.

"I need to change," Elle mumbled, picking her bag up.

"You can go into the funeral home," Opie said, pointing the way.

"Meet us in the parking lot out front," Jax told her and she nodded, barely glancing at him as she turned to walk towards the funeral home while Opie and Jax made their way to the parking lot to meet Happy. Elle joined them several minutes later, back in her jeans and tank top, grabbing her helmet and sliding onto the back of Happy's bike, much to Jax's annoyance. He knew she was just trying to get a rise out of him, and he deserved it.

"Let's grab a bite, then we can hit the road," Jax suggested as the others nodded in agreement. It had been a long day and they were all starving.

After they had eaten, Elle rubbed her stomach in disgust. Not only had it been an emotionally draining day, but now she'd eaten enough food to feed a small village and all she wanted to do was take a nap. She felt groggy and sleepy and worried she wouldn't be able to last the four hour drive back to Charming.

They walked back outside and Elle slipped onto the back of Happy's bike again as they all set off. Elle started to feel herself nod off and at one point almost slipped off the back of Happy's bike. He glanced back at her as she caught herself, annoyed, but continued riding. About an hour and a half into the ride, Happy drove next to Jax and motioned to pull over. Opie followed them.

"What's up?" Jax asked.

"She's falling asleep," Happy said gruffly, motioning to Elle, "Unless you want her body splattered all over the highway, we need to stop." Jax nodded, eyeing Elle.

"Okay, we'll pull off at the next motel we see, get a room for the night and head back in the morning," Jax said.

"No, I'm okay," Elle mumbled sleepily, "I can hang for the rest of the way." Jax shook his head firmly.

"I think we're all a little tired. We'll get a room, it's not a big deal," he said, and Elle nodded, too tired to argue.


	13. One room

It was several miles before they finally came to a motel and pulled in, walking inside.

"We need two rooms," Jax said to the girl at the counter. She looked up at them, taking in the appearance of the three bikers and Elle.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said, "We're almost completely booked. We've only got one room left."

"You're completely booked?" Jax asked, shocked. The girl nodded.

"We're the only hotel for at least 20 miles in either direction, we fill up pretty quickly," she said apologetically. When they looked uncertain, she added, "The room we have has two queen beds, it should fit all of you." Jax glanced at Elle, who shrugged.

"Can we get two cots or something?" he asked. The girl checked her computer and looked back up at him.

"We have one that you can have," she said, "I'll have someone bring it up for you now, if you'd like." Jax sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, okay, we'll take it," he said, sensing issues with sleeping arrangements. He knew Elle wasn't going to want him sleeping next to her, and he'd be damned before he let one of the others take that spot, especially since he knew they'd both already… He shook the thought out of his head.

The only option was for him to take the floor and Opie and Happy to take one of the beds and the cot. At least that way he could make sure neither of them was groping her in the middle of the night.

After they checked in and paid, Opie took the key she offered and led the group to the room. They opened the door and walked in, seeing a decent sized room with two queen beds. The cot had already been brought up and was set up on the far side of the room.

Elle flung herself onto one of the beds, crawling under the covers. She pulled her jeans off under the covers, thanking God she made the decision to wear underwear today, and threw them on the floor next to her before rolling over. Happy took the cot and Opie looked over at Jax, questioning who was getting the second bed.

"You take it," Jax mumbled and Opie nodded, lying down on it. Jax grabbed a pillow off Opie's bed, throwing it on the ground before peeling his cut and t-shirt off. He laid down on the ground, lying on his back, his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

Elle looked down at him, arguing with herself internally. She felt bad about making him sleep on the floor, but she really didn't want to share a bed with him. Maybe if it was one of the others… She watched him shift uncomfortably and sighed.

"Are you really going to sleep on the floor?" Elle finally asked, eyeing Jax from her spot on the bed. He glanced up at her, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Well I'm not crawling into bed with Ope," he responded, not needing to voice the other option that hung like an elephant in the room.

"Not unless he grows tits," Opie mumbled from his bed, "And a vagina."

"I have neither of those things," Jax pointed out. Elle sighed.

"Well, I'll share with Opie, you can have my bed," she said. Opie looked over at Jax, who was glaring at him.

"Yeah, uh, I'm gonna need the whole bed," Opie said, "I take up a lot of room." Elle frowned.

"Fine, Happy can sleep with me and you can have the cot," she said. Happy opened one eye and looked at Jax, who glared at him, shaking his head.

"Nope," Happy responded, closing his eyes.

"What? Why not?" she asked.

"Nope," he replied. Elle sighed again, rolling her eyes at them all.

"You can sleep here," she grumbled. Jax eyed her curiously.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"No, so you might want to take the spot before I change my mind," she said curtly, rolling over until she was almost on the edge of the bed, her back to him. Jax grinned and stood, pulling his jeans off so he was down to his boxers and crawled in next to her.

Elle's heart started racing as Jax crawled into bed. She had to force herself not to turn her head to look at him, because she knew if she did she would probably want to jump on top of him. Whether it was to kiss him or punch him in the face, she still wasn't too sure. Either option was not good, however, so she stayed where she was and she was soon fast asleep.

Jax woke up in the middle of the night to Elle thrashing around in the bed. He looked over at her, a look of terror stretched across her face, her eyes still closed. She started whimpering and moaning as she continued to thrash around. Jax grabbed her, pulling her into him, and her eyes flung open. She looked wildly around and then her eyes fixed on Jax and she seemed to relax as she curled into him, resting her head on his chest.

"How often do you have nightmares?" he asked, concerned.

"Every night since…" she mumbled, her voice trailing off.

"Well you're safe here," he told her, holding her tighter.

"Shut. Up," Happy said sleepily from across the room. Jax grinned looking down at Elle, but she had already fallen back asleep.

Elle woke up the next morning, groggily lying in bed, her eyes stubbornly held shut. She was vaguely aware of the hardness of her pillow, and also that it seemed to have a heartbeat. Her brain was still hazy from the earliness of the hour and she felt an arm twitch around her waist. And it wasn't her arm. Her eyes flung open and she realized at some point in the night she had curled right into Jax, her head on his chest, his arm wrapped around her, their legs intertwined.

How had this happened? She vaguely remembered having a nightmare, and waking up to Jax holding her, but she'd thought it had been part of her dream. She lay there a second longer, wanting to pretend that everything was perfect between them. That there was no animosity at all. Because even she had to admit, it felt nice to be held by him. But as she felt him stir beneath her, she couldn't pretend any longer and tried to roll away from him. His arm automatically caught her, keeping her pinned to him, as he slowly woke up.

"Mmm, morning," Jax said, looking down at her, an amused expression on his face. She didn't respond, choosing instead to roll out of his grasp and back to her spot on her side of the bed. Jax sat up, rubbing his face with his hands, before stumbling out of bed and into the shower. Elle lay there as she heard the water running, resisting the urge to jump in there with him and reminding herself that she was still angry.

By the time he walked out, Opie and Happy were up and moving about. Jax got dressed and looked over at Elle.

"You hungry?" he asked. Elle nodded while she continued to avoid his gaze, pulling the blankets up until they were at her neck.

"Okay, I'm going to run and get us breakfast before we head out – you want anything in particular?" he asked. Elle shook her head.

"Nah, just get me whatever you're having," she mumbled.

"Alright, we'll be back soon," Jax said, "Ope, come with me." Jax eyed Happy before following Opie out the door. Happy flung himself on Opie's bed and flipped the TV on while Elle got dressed. She walked over to sit next to Happy and looked at the TV. It looked like a Spanish program, with two beautiful girls yelling at each other.

"What are you watching?" she asked. Happy held up a hand, shushing her.

"Oh I'm sorry," Elle whispered sarcastically, "Are these your stories?"

"It's my telenovela," he replied, his eyes glued to the TV. Elle sat there, trying to follow what was going on, but she'd only taken two years of Spanish in high school and had learned almost nada, and had no idea what they were saying.

"What's happening?" she finally asked Happy. He growled at her and Elle tried to figure it out on her own.

"What's happening now?" she asked again a few minutes later when she still hadn't picked up on what was going on. Happy sighed, resigning himself to explaining it to her.

"Maria thinks Carmen has been sleeping with her husband, Jose," he responded, eyes still glued to the TV.

"Did she?" Elle asked. Happy shook his head as a man walked onto the screen, "Is that Jose?"

"No, that's Maria's sister, Isabel, but she had a sex change so now she goes by Tony," he said.

"Why did Maria just slap him? Or is it her?" Elle asked.

"Because he slept with Jose," he said. Elle widened her eyes, a smile creeping across her lips.

"You seem very invested in the story," she said. Happy turned to glare at her.

"I used to watch it with my mom, okay? And now I really need to find out what happens," he said. Elle turned back to the TV as Maria screamed at Carmen and Tony.

"So why does Maria think Carmen slept with Jose?" Elle asked.

"Because she's having his baby," Happy explained. Elle frowned.

"So how did she get pregnant if they didn't have sex?" she asked.

"Turkey baster," Happy replied, and Elle burst into a fit of giggles.

"Well Maria didn't think it was very funny," Happy said, a rare smile creeping across his lips. Elle laughed again, wiping tears from her eyes and clutching her side as Jax and Opie walked in, each carrying a bag of food and two coffees, talking about the deal with the 512's Happy and Jax had worked out.

"Food's here," Jax announced, setting it on the desk next to the TV.

"Shhhh," Elle said, waving them down as she continued to laugh, trying to focus on the show. Jax watched Elle laugh, the first time he'd really seen her laugh in weeks, and had to admit he was slightly jealous that it wasn't him that had brought it out of her. It was Happy. _Happy,_ of all people. He shook his head.

"What's so funny?" he asked. Elle shook her head, smiling in spite of herself.

"Nothing, just Happy's ridiculous telenovela," she said, getting up to grab a coffee and dug through the bag of food before pulling out a breakfast taco. The four ate in almost complete silence before Elle wiped her hands on a napkin and stood.

"I'm gonna take a shower before we head out," she said, walking into the bathroom. Jax watched her close the door behind her and turned to the other two.

"Why don't you guys ride ahead," Jax said coolly, "I'll stay here and wait for Elle." Opie and Happy exchanged glances.

"You think that's a good idea?" Opie asked.

"I'll be fine riding by myself," Jax said irritably, "We're only a little over 2 hours away."

"We can wait, it's not a big deal," Happy said.

"Just go ahead," Jax told him firmly, "We'll be right behind you." Happy shrugged as he and Opie shared a knowing glance.

"Alright brother," Opie said, patting Jax on the shoulder and standing up, "Make sure you've got your prepay on you." Jax nodded and they walked out the door.

Elle came out several minutes later, back in her jeans and tank top, her bag slung over her shoulder. She looked around the room then back at Jax, crossing her arms.

"Where are Opie and Happy?" she asked accusatorily.

"They needed to ride ahead, club business," Jax said. Elle narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, and I'm so sure as _president_ of the club, you weren't needed for this club business," she said as she stalked past him and out the door. Jax followed her and she ran down the stairs to the parking lot.

"Elle!" he called, but she kept walking.

"Elle, where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm walking!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"What? To Charming? It's almost 150 miles!" he said, jogging to catch up to her. He got in front of her, gripping her arms to stop her. She jerked herself out of his grip and walked past him, but he grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

"You've forgiven everyone else!" he yelled in frustration as she once again ripped her arm out of his grip, "Everyone else except for me." She glared at him, refusing to respond for nearly a minute.

"Everyone else didn't hurt me the way you did, Jax," she finally said.

"You know I didn't know he was going to do that to you. I didn't even want you to fucking go in the first place!" he shouted.

"You were the one who asked me to do it!" she yelled back at him, "Anyone else I would've just told to go to hell, but you knew I couldn't say no to you. You used me. You knew I had feelings for you and you used them against me." He walked closer to her, placing his hands on his shoulders.

"I didn't know you had feelings for me," he whispered, "But I knew that I had them for you." Elle looked up at him, her heart racing, the damn butterflies back in her stomach.

"Then how could you do that to me?" she asked, her voice breaking as she felt the tears welling behind her eyes. Jax hung his head, slowly shaking it back and forth.

"I should've told Lenevsky to go to hell. I was so bent on making sure I was doing right by the club, that I was being a good president, that I messed up on doing right by you, and I'm so sorry," he said, finally bringing his eyes up to meet hers. Elle felt her bottom lip tremble.

"It's not okay, Jax," she finally said quietly, feeling some of her resolve melt as she looked at the pained expression across his face, "I just don't know how to forgive you." Jax nodded sadly, pulling her into him. She allowed him this time, wrapping her arms around his waist, her head pressed against his chest as she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to keep back the tears.

**A/N Please please please review! It's the only compensation I get, and it really means a lot to me to hear what you all have to say about the story! **


	14. Return of the Huntsman

Elle rode on the back of Jax's bike back to Charming, both lost in their own thoughts. She rested her head against the reaper on his back, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, wishing this were under different circumstances. Wishing that the night with Nik had never happened and it was just her and Jax out for a ride, enjoying their time together.

Jax felt her head resting against his back and smiled grimly, wanting nothing more than to take back the last couple of weeks. To go back to that conversation with Lenevsky and tell the fucker that she belonged to him, that he couldn't have her. He thought about everything he was going to do to Lenevsky once he finally got his hands on him. Jax had never relished in the thought of killing somebody before – that was more Happy's thing. He took no pleasure from taking lives. But this one, he would enjoy.

They pulled into Elle's parking lot in front of her apartment a couple hours later and Jax sent Opie a message letting him know they made it back okay. He looked over and saw Tig's bike still parked a few spots down from him as Elle hopped off the bike, handing the helmet back to him.

"Well, thanks for the ride," she said awkwardly as he started to get off to walk her to her door, but she stopped him, "Tig's still here," she said, pointing out his bike, "So, you know… protection detail still intact." Jax nodded, retaking his seat as he watched her enter her apartment. He continued to sit there, debating whether or not to follow her in, as the door closed behind her.

Elle entered her apartment, locking the door behind her, to find it seemingly empty. She frowned, her heart racing. It was way too quiet in here. She slowly pulled her gun out of her bag before setting the bag on the counter of the island in the kitchen and moving through the living room. She saw a trail of clothes, including Tig's cut and Bex's favorite shorts, leading to Bex's room and her heart slowed. She grinned, shaking her head and setting the gun on one of the end tables before walking up to Bex's room.

"Bex?" she called, "Tig? Are you decent?" She heard muffled yelling from inside the room, "Okay, well get decent, I'm coming in!" She opened the door to find Tig tied to the bed, spread-eagled and butt naked.

"Ah!" she yelled, covering her eyes, "God, I really didn't need to see that! Where's Bex?" Tig had a gag through his mouth, his eyes wide, shaking his head furiously as he tried to talk through the gag.

"What the hell kind of freaky stuff were you guys doing?" she asked, looking around the room and not seeing Bex anywhere. She shrugged and walked to the bathroom, freezing as she opened the door. Bex had one hand handcuffed to the shower rod, also naked, leaning against the wall, her eyes closed.

"Seriously, what were you guys-" she started as Bex turned towards her slowly, clearly dazed, and Elle saw that she was bleeding from the side of her head. Bex's eyes widened in terror.

"Oh God, Elle! You've got to get out of here! Run!" she screamed. Elle's eyes widened as she took several steps backwards before turning around and running down the hall. When she got to the living room, a hand reached out and grabbed her and she saw her way blocked by Nik, his cold eyes leering down at her.

"So it seems I've got you at last," he said quietly as Elle opened her mouth, screaming as loud as she could. Nik grabbed her by her throat, shoving her against the wall, tightening a grip on her so hard that she was worried she'd lose consciousness as he completely blocked her airway. She struggled against him, grabbing his arms, trying to pull them away from her throat as he stared into her eyes, slowly squeezing the life out of her.

"For a dead woman you're pretty lively," Nik snarled in her ear.

Outside, Jax was still sitting on his bike, thinking about Elle when he heard her scream. He jumped off, running up the stairs to her door and found it locked. He took a few steps back, pulling out his gun and shot the lock several times before bursting in and saw Nik pressed against Elle, his hand still at her throat. Jax shot several times but he was so worried about hitting Elle he missed Nik completely. Nik swung Elle around, blocking himself from Jax's shot as he pulled Elle towards the kitchen, grabbing a knife from the butcher block on the counter.

"I was hoping to strangle her to death, but I'll be just fine slitting her throat," he sneered, raising the knife to her throat.

Elle looked at Jax, at the murderous expression on his face as he held the gun up, pointed at them. She knew he wouldn't dare take a shot with her in front, so they were at a standstill.

"Drop the gun!" Nik screamed at Jax, pressing the knife harder to Elle's throat.

"Let her go and I'll drop the gun," Jax stated, rage coursing through his veins.

"I let her go, you shoot me," Nik said through narrowed eyes. Elle felt a trickle of blood run down her neck from the knife at her throat.

"You kill her and you'll be dead before her body hits the floor," Jax growled. Elle took a deep breath, adrenaline coursing through her as she pulled her elbow up and jammed it into Nik's side causing him to stumble back, releasing her. She desperately tried to run down the hall to Bex's room. If she could get Tig untied, he could help. Jax fired several shots off at Nik as he ducked behind the island in the kitchen. As soon as there was a break in firing, Nik stood, taking Jax by surprise as he threw his knife at him, grazing his shoulder with the blade, before charging at Jax, knocking the gun out of his hands. Nik grabbed the gun, firing several shots over his shoulder as he ran down the hall before Elle could get to Tig.

He grabbed her, pulling her back to the living room, his gun aimed at Jax who ran and ducked behind the counter. Nik threw Elle against the wall on the far side of the living room as he walked towards where Jax was crouched behind the counter. Elle watched with wide eyes, terrified that Nik was going to kill Jax in front of her. Jax couldn't die. Not when he thought she hated him. Not when he didn't know how she really felt about him.

And that's when she remembered. Her gun was on the end table. She ran towards it and Nik saw her out of the corner of his eye. She ducked behind the couch as he tried to fire at her and he moved towards her as Jax ran at him, knocking the gun out of his hand as they both crashed to the floor. They both scrambled to get the gun back back and Jax grabbed it, raising it from his position on the floor to fire at Nik as he felt the gun click. It was out of bullets.

"FUCK!" he screamed in frustration, tossing the gun to the side as Nik grinned and rushed at Jax, punching him square in the jaw. Jax's head fell back and Nik took off towards Elle, who had frozen in fear before she had reached her gun. He grabbed her as she made a move towards it, throwing her on the ground and crawling on top of her, intent on killing her with his bare hands. Jax groaned and rolled over, seeing Nik on Elle. He hurriedly stood from the floor and rushed towards them as Elle struggled to speak.

"Jax!" Elle gasped, struggling against Nik, trying to pull his hands from her throat, "The end table." Jax turned and saw Elle's gun sitting on the end table and grabbed it as Nik realized a split second too late was happening. He loosened his grip on Elle to try to get to the table first and as he turned he saw Jax pointing the gun at him.

Jax fired several rounds into Nik's chest and he lurched at the impact of the bullets. Elle screamed as Nik collapsed onto the floor in a pool of blood and she scrambled out from under him, hurriedly standing and running into Jax's arms.

"It's okay," he murmured into her ear as sobs erupted from her. Her shoulders shook as she cried into his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Will someone get me the fuck out of here!" they heard Bex scream from the bathroom and Jax looked down the hall to see Bex handcuffed to the shower rod.

"Oh yeah," Elle said, chuckling through her sobs, "Tig is tied up to the bed, too." Jax led Elle to the couch, settling her down while he went to get Bex released and untie Tig. Tig walked out of the room hurriedly zipping up a pair of jeans and Bex ran into her bedroom to pull on an oversized t-shirt before coming out into the living room. They all stood over Nik's body, staring at him.

"The police will be on their way," Jax commented.

"It was self-defense," Bex said. Jax shrugged.

"Self-defense is a difficult thing to prove for ex-cons," he told her dourly.

"So leave," Bex said, "I'll tell them I shot him with his own gun. They can't trace that back to you." Jax swallowed hard, looking over at Elle and walking towards her. He bent down in front of where she sat on the couch, rubbing her cheek with his hand.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded shakily, before reaching out to his shoulder.

"You're hurt," she whispered. Jax looked down at his arm, surprised to see blood trickling from a wound. He licked his fingers, wiping some of the blood away.

"It's nothing," he said, turning back to her, "It'll heal on its own." She nodded, staring at him in shock.

"You saved my life," she said. He smiled.

"I told you. I'm never letting anything happen to you again," he said. She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him, pressing her lips against his. He stumbled back in surprise at first before leaning into the kiss, pushing her against the back of the couch. She gripped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her as he slipped an arm behind her, relishing in the feel of her lips against his. She opened her mouth slightly, allowing his tongue entry.

They didn't pull apart until Bex tapped them on the shoulder.

"You guys need to go, now, before the cops get here," she said, "I'll make a call into 911 as soon as you leave, telling them Nik shot the door open, broke in, and tried to kill me but I got the gun away from him and shot him."

"I'll send someone over after they get the body out of here to clean this place up," Jax told her and Bex nodded as he turned his attention back to Elle.

"Come on, let me get you out of here," he said. Elle shook her head.

"No, I can't let Bex deal with this on her own," she said softly.

"It's okay, sweetie, I'll be fine. You need to get out of here, go calm down, clean yourself up," she said. Elle looked up at her.

"Are you sure?" Bex nodded and Elle stood, realizing her legs were shaking and stumbling slightly as Jax caught her.

"Alright let's get out of here," Jax said as Bex pulled her phone out to put the call into 911.

"You going to the clubhouse?" Tig asked, pulling on the t-shirt he had retrieved from Bex's room and sliding his cut back on. Jax shook his head.

"No, I'm gonna take her back to my house. I'll be over there later," he said. Tig smirked as he walked towards the door.

"Yeah… sure you will," he replied, "You know, if you don't get pussy after that-"

"Tig, get out of here," Jax growled and Tig grinned before heading outside. Jax took Elle's hand in his and they followed him out. Elle climbed on Jax's bike, wrapping her arms around his waist as they took off, passing several police cars with flashing lights zooming towards the apartment complex as they left.

They pulled into Jax's driveway several minutes later and Elle hopped off the bike, barely registering where she was or what was happening. Jax led her inside and sat her on the couch while he walked into the kitchen, getting a clean rag and wetting it. He tore his t-shirt off to get a better look at the wound in his shoulder before walking back out into the living room and once again kneeling in front of Elle, bringing the rag up to wipe the blood off her face and neck.

She watched his face as he gingerly wiped hers with the rag and then he took her hands holding them out to him. She noticed there was blood all over them as well. She watched as he cleaned the blood off her hands, his touch gentle. Elle took the rag from him, reaching over to his shoulder, gingerly pressing it against the wound.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, and he shook his head slowly, his eyes focused on her face, his heart beating rapidly, as she continued to stop the bleeding. She pulled it back, running her fingers lightly over the clean cut.

"Thanks," he said softly, still not taking his eyes off her face. She finally looked up at him and nodded, suddenly feeling all the emotion from the day swoop over her like a wave.

"I thought…" she said, tears forming in her eyes, "I thought you were going to die." He smiled at her, kissing her forehead before looking back at her.

"You couldn't get rid of me that easy," he said. She shook her head.

"No, Jax. I really thought you were going to die, and I'd never be able to talk to you again, and you'd die thinking that I hated you, and…" her voice choked up as a sob escaped from her mouth and Jax pulled her into him again.

"Elle, it's okay, I'm okay," he assured her and she clung to him.

"It's just, I… I don't hate you, Jax," she choked out, and he gripped her tightly, running a hand through the back of her hair.

"Good, because I'm fucking crazy about you," he murmured. She pulled back from him, looking him in the eye.

"You are?" she asked, smiling at him and he nodded.

"I am," he said. She sighed, pressing her forehead against his, unsure of how to respond.

"I didn't think I was ever going to be able to forgive you," she said, "And that hurt me almost as much as what you did, because I cared about you so fucking much." He continued to watch her ardently, hoping with all his heart this was leading where he wanted it to go.

"But when I thought you might die…," She sighed, pausing to search for the words, "I don't want to be angry with you anymore. I just … want to be with you," she finished, a gleam in her eye and he grinned broadly.

"So you're saying all I have to do next time you're pissed is almost die?" he asked.

"You better not do that!" she said, smiling in spite of herself. He reached a hand up to brush the hair from her face, looking into her eyes and noticing that the look of wonder and excitement she used to have when she looked at him was back. He leaned forward to kiss her tentatively and pulled back, searching her face with his eyes. She looked back at him, stroking his bruised jaw line before leaning forward to kiss him back. He clung to her, wrapping his arms around as he slowly stood, scooping her up in his arms as she wrapped hers around his neck while he carried her down the hall to his room.

He laid her down on the bed, crawling on top of her as she pulled him down to her and kissed him. His hands roamed down her body, snaking up under her tank top and she shifted her body so he could raise it up over her shoulders. He looked down at her, propped up above her on his hands.

She brought her hands up, trailing them hungrily over his chest before wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her as he leaned down, pressing his lips urgently against hers. She moaned as he pulled apart and he grinned, loving the sounds she made. He moved down her body, gently kissing along her collar bone before cupping her breasts through her bra, kissing the top of her mounds. She arched her back toward him as he reached behind her, unhooking her bra and she struggled out of it, throwing it to the floor.

He bent his head down, taking a breast into his mouth, lightly flicking her nipple with his tongue and causing her to moan as his hand reached up to cup her other breast. She reached down for his belt, the bulge in his jeans obvious. He knelt above her on his knees, allowing her to undo his jeans as he worked on hers. They both squirmed out of the last remaining clothes keeping them apart and Elle reached for him, taking his hard cock in her hands and stroking him as he groaned at her touch. It throbbed under her hand and she felt it grow until she was forced to let go as he hooked his elbow under her knee, bringing it up and spreading her. He rubbed his hand along the lips of her pussy, looking deep into her eyes as he inserted a finger into her, feeling her wetness. She moaned as he stroked her pussy with his hand, writhing at his touch. She reached her arm up, hooking it around his neck, running her fingers through his hair.

"Jax," she murmured, almost pleading with him, and he growled, removing his hand and taking his place at her entrance.

He couldn't remember ever needing to be inside someone so badly as he stroked his cock along the outside of her pussy before fully inserting himself inside of her. He paused for a moment, relishing the feel of her fully wrapped around him, before he slowly pulled out. She looked into his eyes and moaned, feeling him fill her as he thrust in and out. He slowed his pace down, reaching his hand up to brush her hair back, the intimacy of the moment crashing over him and he wanted more.

He sat up, pulling her with him and extending his legs as she crawled onto his lap, wrapping her legs behind him and her arms around his shoulders. He slid inside of her easily and deeper than before and they slowly began rocking back and forth as he held her crushed to him, kissing her, never wanting this to end. She clung to him as she tossed her head back, her breathing shallow as he buried his face in her chest. She let out a guttural moan as he felt a shudder run through her body and he couldn't hold back as he felt her spasm around his cock, screaming his name.

They stayed like that, wrapped around each other, breathing heavy, Jax still burrowed deep inside Elle. He grabbed the back of her head, pulling her in to kiss her, never wanting to let go.

**A/N So this was probably the hardest chapter to write so far, so any feedback would definitely be appreciated! Thanks to those who review and those of you that don't review but are still reading - I appreciate you so much, too! **


	15. The poisoned apple

The next morning, Elle stirred next to Jax and curled into him, not wanting to leave his side. He woke up groggily and pulled her closer, kissing her forehead.

"Morning," he said. She grinned, feeling her heart race as he smiled down at her.

"Morning," she said. Jax's phone went off beside him and he groaned, reaching for it and checking the display.

"Shit," he mumbled, flipping it open.

"What's wrong?" Elle asked, the smile wiped from her face. Had something gone wrong with Bex? Did the police not buy her story? Had she been in jail all night while Elle had been with Jax?

"I'm sure it's nothing, it's just Happy," he muttered as he put the phone up to his hear. Elle listened to his side of the conversation, which didn't give her much, until he hung up and tossed the phone back on the table, turning back to Elle.

"What happened?" she asked, not wanting to get distracted as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him again.

"Everything's fine," he assured her, "Happy just wanted to let me know he's over at your apartment with the prospects. They're gonna get everything cleaned up over there." Elle nodded.

"What about Bex?" she asked.

"She's fine, Roosevelt got her statement last night, did a prelim investigation, said everything seemed to match her statement so they don't need to do a full investigation, and they took Nik's body and left. Happy said she stayed at the clubhouse last night," Jax responded. Elle nodded.

"We need to go over there, check on her," Elle said and Jax sighed and nodded, reluctantly releasing her from his side so she could jump in the shower.

They arrived in the TM lot an hour later and Elle rushed into the clubhouse, Jax following behind her, and found Bex sitting at the bar with Cherry. Elle rushed over to her, throwing her arms around her and nearly knocking Bex off her stool.

"Hey!" Bex said, laughing and hugging her back, "Everything's fine. I just didn't want to stay in that apartment last night, it's a disaster. I'm definitely not getting my security deposit back." Elle laughed with relief.

"Well, Happy and the prospects are at the apartment, now. I guess they'll do what they can," she responded as Jax sidled up to them. Bex looked up at him as he approached and grinned at them as Jax wrapped his arm instinctively around Elle's waist.

"Thanks for everything, Jax," Bex told him earnestly, "You fucking saved the day." He gave her a small smile but before he could respond, Tig walked into the clubhouse from the back and Jax glared at him, marching up and punching him in the face. Tig stumbled back, glaring at Jax as he shook his head.

"Yeah I was wondering when that was gonna happen," he said.

"What the fuck happened?" Jax asked.

"What can I say…he caught me with my pants down," Tig said, shrugging.

"Your dick is gonna be the end of you, you know that right?" Jax asked.

"That's the way I want to go," Tig said in all seriousness.

"Well anyone I care about, or anyone they care about, gets hurt again because you got caught with your pants down, I will stick my foot so far up your ass," Jax said.

"Promise?" Tig asked, grinning. Jax shook his head.

"Get outta here you sick freak," he said before walking back to Elle, throwing his arm around her shoulders.

"C'mon, I'm taking you to lunch," he said and Elle waved goodbye to Cherry and Bex as they walked out.

"So are they a thing now?" Cherry asked, leaning back against the bar. Bex shrugged, grinning.

"I guess so," she said.

SOASOASOASOASOASOA

A couple of weeks later, chapel let out and the boys filed out into the clubhouse where their usual Friday night party was going down, full swing. Jax followed Opie, Chibs, and Half-Sack up to the bar, where Cherry was bartending. Half-Sack leaned over the bar to give her a kiss and she smiled at him before turning to the others.

"What can I get you guys?" she asked, arms propped on the bar. Chibs, Opie, and Half-Sack all ordered a beer and she turned to Jax.

"Nah, nothing for me, Cherry," he said, "I'm gonna take off here pretty soon." She nodded and pulled the beers as Opie looked over at him.

"Seriously? C'mon, stay for a drink. You haven't been around the last couple weeks," he said.

"I know, I'm sorry, Ope, but I gotta get back to my girl," Jax responded.

"You should bring her around," Cherry spoke up, "I miss seeing her." Jax smiled at her.

"Well, thanks, but I don't think she's ready to come out here, yet," he replied.

"I'm just sayin," Opie said, "I'm hearin shit about your disappearing act. People might start to wonder where your loyalty's at." Jax glared at him.

"My loyalty's with the club, Ope," he said, "I think I've proven that. But she needs me right now." Opie shrugged.

"Alright, do what you gotta do, brother," he said, clapping him on the back.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys tomorrow," he said, waving at the others as he made his way outside.

He pulled up to his house a couple minutes later and walked inside to the smell of something burning and the fire alarm going off. He grinned as he wrinkled his nose and walked into the kitchen to see Elle frantically waving a towel over the fire alarm. He leaned against the door frame, watching her with an amused expression on his face.

"Need any help?" he finally called over the sound of the alarm. She jumped, startled, as she turned to look at him, a sheepish expression on her face.

"It won't stop!" she said and he swaggered up to the alarm, popping it off and taking the batteries out, the alarm going blissfully silent.

"What were you doing?" he asked, looking at the opened oven. She ran a finger through her hair.

"Making a lasagna," she mumbled. He threw his head back, laughing as she stood glaring, her hands on her hips.

"It's not funny!" she said, "I was going to make dinner, and I got a call from Bex and I lost track of the time." He smirked at her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into him.

"We'll order a pizza, okay?" he said. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, okay," she said, "I wanted to surprise you." He stood in front of her, his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Babe, I am surprised," he said, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"I wanted to surprise you with dinner, not with almost burning your house down!" she said. He grinned, kissing her again before digging his phone out of his pocket to call for a pizza. After he placed the call they walked into the living room and she snuggled into him on the couch.

"So seven nights in a row you've been home early," she commented. He nodded.

"Yeah, the guys are starting to bust my balls for not being at the clubhouse more," he sighed. She frowned.

"If you want to spend more time up there, you should," she told him. He shook his head.

"I want to spend more time with you," he told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "Wherever that is." She sighed.

"I don't want to be the one keeping you away," she said, "I can start coming to the clubhouse more." He pulled away from her slightly so that he could look at her.

"I'm not asking you to do that," he said gently. She nodded.

"I know you're not," she said, "I'm telling you I want to."

"Are you sure?" he asked. She shrugged.

"You love the man, you learn to love the club, right?" she said, "But I only want to go if Bex is gonna be there so I have someone to talk to if you have to run off." He nodded.

"I can live with that," he said smiling.

"Do they even know about us?" Elle asked tentatively. The two of them had pretty much kept to themselves the last few weeks and hadn't really made many public appearances. Not that they were trying to hide anything, but Elle hadn't really been up to going out and she preferred staying in with Jax anyway. Jax shrugged.

"I mean, most of them all know. I haven't stood up and made an announcement about it if that's what you're asking," he said. Elle nodded, chewing nervously on her lip.

"What?" he asked, knowing she was holding back from saying something. She sighed.

"I just… I didn't know if maybe you didn't want people to know because of… you know… how I…. what I used to do at the parties," she stammered, looking down at her hands, not able to get the words 'I was pretty much the club bicycle' out of her mouth. He frowned, pulling her closer to him.

"I don't care about that shit, okay?" he said, cupping his hand under her chin, "I got past that a long time ago." Elle nodded, breathing deeply.

"Okay," she finally said, "I'll come out to the next party then." Jax grinned and kissed her.

"Good."

SOASOASOASOASOASOA

The next week, Wendy was back at the clubhouse for yet another Friday night showdown. She sat at the bar with Leslie and Rhonda while Amy tended the bar, surveying the crowd. Things had been going very well for her the past couple of weeks. Elle had been run off by the Russian so she hadn't had to see her for a couple of months and Wendy's place had seemed to be restored. Things were finally getting back to normal.

Except for Jax. He had been almost completely MIA lately. She'd seen him around the clubhouse tonight for the first time in several weeks and was debating how to make her move. She glanced over at the table where Jax was sitting with Juice, Opie, and Chibs and watched as he brushed away a couple croweaters who were then pulled onto the laps of Chibs and Juice. Wendy watched as Jax finished the rest of his beer and she grinned, about to turn around to tell Amy to pull one for her so she could bring it to Jax when she did a double take at the door and wanted to scream.

"Oh look! Elle's back!" Leslie said happily, and Wendy turned to glare at her.

"What is she doing here?" she asked through gritted teeth as she saw Opie tap Jax on the shoulder and point to Elle, who had just walked in with Bex. Jax grinned and hopped up from the table. Wendy watched as he said hi to Bex and then pulled Elle into his arms, kissing her, before walking back to the table and pulling her onto his lap. Elle laughed as she wrapped her arm around his shoulder and he nuzzled her neck. Bex looked around to pull a chair up before Opie patted his knee and she sat down.

"What the hell just happened?" Wendy screeched, not noticing Gemma sidle up to the bar until she told Amy to get her a drink. Gemma glanced over at Wendy's seething expression and smirked as she took the beer Amy handed her.

"Looks like there's a new Queen," Gemma said before calmly walking away, leaving a brewing hurricane behind her.

At the table, Jax wrapped his arm protectively around Elle's waist, kissing her neck softly. She looked down at him, smiling.

"Thanks for coming tonight," he said and she grinned, nodding.

"Anytime. It'll be fun," she said. Tig walked over just then and grinned.

"Fuckin Snow White!" he said, pulling a chair up to the table, "You're back!" Elle rolled her eyes but smiled at Tig.

"My name's Elle, you know," she reminded him. He shook his head.

"Nah, hear me out, I've got this great idea, okay. Snow White and the Seven Whores," he said, his eyes lighting up as Jax's narrowed.

"Seven Whores?" Elle repeated, uneasy about where he was going with this as she subtly grasped Jax's hand. Tig nodded.

"Yeah, you know, we got Perky, Busty, Shorty, Crazy," he started rattling off names, pointing at different girls around the room, "And…. Dopey!" he finished, pointing at the bar where Leslie stood.

"It would be a really good idea for you to leave," Jax said.

"Just think about it, we could make a shit ton of money off that," Tig said.

"Tig! She's my old lady. Get the fuck outta here!" Jax yelled and Tig looked between the two as Elle grinned, suddenly washing away her uneasiness about Tig's comment. Jax had never called her that before.

"Oh, right, shit, yeah…" he mumbled, standing up and walking away. Elle looked at Jax and laughed.

"Oh come on, that was kinda funny," she said, and Jax shook his head, frowning, "We've gotta give people time to realize." Jax shook his head, holding her close to him.

"They're gonna realize that you fucking belong to me," he growled, kissing her and she smiled.

"Yes, I do," she murmured in his ear.

Wendy watched the exchange from her perch at the bar, her eyes growing narrower as time went on.

"I fucking hate that bitch," Wendy muttered, reckless plans running through her head. She knew Jax didn't give two shits about any one woman. Never had except for Tara, and if Wendy had it her way he never would again until he opened his eyes and saw what a great old lady _she'd_ make him. She just had to get rid of Elle. Scare her away from the clubhouse once and for all.

She watched as Half-Sack ran through the door, yelling for Jax about something and Jax turned to Elle, telling her he'd be right back. She climbed off his lap and he followed Half-Sack outside, followed by Opie, Juice, and Chibs, leaving Bex and Elle alone at the table with the other croweaters. Wendy grinned and looked through her bag, finding the small vial she was looking for.

"I think we should bring the girls a peace offering," she said to Amy, "Make me five Washington Apples." Amy raised her eyebrows in surprise, but got busy on the shots. When she'd laid them out across the bar, Wendy took the vial, dripping several drops into one of the shots.

"What's that?" Leslie asked while Amy and Rhonda pretended not to notice what she'd done.

"I'm not gonna be around for this," Rhonda muttered as she took off outside.

"It's just a little juice," Wendy said, "Makes it taste better." Leslie nodded, grinning.

"I want some, too!" she said. Wendy shook her head, replacing the vial in her bag.

"No, this is special for Elle," she said, "I just … want to make some peace." Amy shook her head while Leslie just grinned.

"Oh, okay. I think that's really nice of you, Wendy," she said. Wendy smiled.

"Well, I am a nice person, you know," she replied as they took all the shots over to the table.

"Hi Elle," Wendy greeted as she walked up, "Hey, Bex." Bex and Elle glared at her.

"What do you want, Wendy?" Bex asked. Wendy shrugged.

"Look, I know I've been a bitch, okay? And I'm really sorry about everything that happened. I was just so jealous of you, Elle, and I dunno… I lost my head a bit," she said with such sincerity it took both girls by surprise, "I wanted to bring over a peace offering. I know we'll never be friends, but I hope this means we can at least be civil to one another." Bex and Elle exchanged glances before looking back at Wendy, who was holding a shot out to Elle.

"Here, we'll cheers to you being all better," she said as Elle hesitatingly took the shot.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Washington Apple," she told her, "They're delicious." Wendy continued passing them around the table and held hers up.

"To you, Elle," she said, smiling. Elle hesitated as Bex tossed back the shot in her hand and looked over at Bex.

"Oh just take it, maybe then she'll go away," Bex muttered under her breath. Elle took the shot and handed the glass back to Wendy.

"Okay, well, see you around Elle," she said as she walked back to her spot at the bar to enjoy the show.

Thirty minutes later, Wendy had watched as Elle slowly started to feel the effects of the drug, and now she looked like she'd just ingested an entire bottle of tequila. She was currently on the stripper pole, dancing around it wildly as she slowly started to grind against it, beginning to unbutton her top. Wendy watched, amused, as Bex ran up to her, trying to pull her friend from the pole and keep her clothes on as the boys standing around catcalled and yelled at Bex to let the show happen.

Elle giggled, falling on her friend as Bex struggled to keep her upright and the guys all groaned in disappointment, then cheered as Leslie replaced Elle on the stripper pole. Elle leaned in, trying to kiss Bex.

"Ohhhkay," Bex said, trying to haul her friend over to the booth in the corner. Elle stumbled as Bex lost her grip on Elle and Elle made her way to one of the couches littered with a few hangarounds. She fell onto one of their laps, giggling as she ran her fingers through his hair, whispering in his ear.

Wendy watched as Jax walked in and her eyes widened in excitement as she saw him spot Elle hanging all over the hangaround. Jax marched up to Elle, ripping her up before punching the hangaround in the face, screaming at him. Bex tried to calm Jax down.

"She hasn't even had that much to drink, Jax," Bex said worriedly, "I don't know what's wrong with her." Jax glared at her as he sat Elle on the booth.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he yelled at Elle. She just giggled some more before falling backwards on the booth. Her laughter stopped as her body jerked and she grabbed her stomach.

"I don't feel good," she mumbled as her eyes closed. Jax turned to Bex, anger replaced by concern.

"You said she didn't have much to drink?" he said. Bex shook her head.

"No, just a couple beers and a shot," she said. Jax frowned, running his hands through his hair, leaning over Elle as he tried to shake her awake. Bex looked wildly around and saw Leslie still on the stripper pole.

"Leslie!" she called. Leslie stopped dancing and looked over at Bex who was waving her over.

"Hi Bex!" she said, and then frowned when she saw Elle, "What's wrong with her?" Bex shook her head.

"I don't know," she said, "Do you know what was in that shot Wendy gave her?" Leslie shrugged.

"Just the normal stuff," she said, "Oh and Wendy put some juice in it." Jax's eyes widened as he looked at Leslie.

"Wendy put fucking JUICE in her shot?" he yelled, feeling his blood pressure rise in his anger. Leslie nodded, surprised by his reaction.

"Yeah, she said it would make it taste better," Leslie said, frowning, "It was a Washington Apple. They're kind of sour. I thought the apple juice might make it taste less sour, but Wendy wouldn't let me have any."

"It's not that kind of FUCKING JUICE!" Jax screamed at her, wondering how anybody could get this far in life and be that stupid, "It's G-Juice." He looked wildly around and saw Wendy trying to slip unnoticed out of the front door.

"WENDY!" he yelled, so loud that everyone in the room jumped and looked up. Wendy froze, turning to face Jax, trying to smile.

"Oh, hey, Jax," she said, glancing over at Elle, "I guess some people just can't handle their alcohol, hmm?" Jax swaggered slowly up to her, his fists clenched, and he lowered his face inches from hers.

"Not when some stupid whore puts GHB in her goddamn drink," he growled menacingly. Wendy raised her eyebrows, trying to look surprised.

"GHB? Who would do that?" she asked innocently, looking around, trying to figure a way out. She shrieked in surprise as Jax ripped the bag off her shoulder and dug through it, pulling the vial out. He held it, glowering menacingly at Wendy as he threw it as hard as he could against the wall by the coat hangers, the vial shattering. Happy and Tig hopped up and ran to help their president as Jax spat in her face.

"You ever show your face around my club or my old lady again, I will kill you," he snarled at her, so quietly only Wendy could hear, and, turning to Happy and Tig added, "Get her out of here." Happy grabbed Wendy and Jax watched until the door closed behind them before walking back over to where Bex stood with her head tilted over Elle.

"How is she?" he murmured to Bex who shook her head, looking down at Elle who was still lying motionless on the couch.

"I don't know, Jax. Her breathing is really slow and she won't wake up. We need to get her to a hospital," she whispered, "It's really dangerous to mix GHB with alcohol." Jax nodded, walking over to Elle and leaning over her, sitting on the booth.

"Elle, baby," he whispered, gently shaking her. She stirred slightly, moaning, but wouldn't open her eyes. He looked down at her, concern etched in his features, as he leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Jax.

"Jax?" she said and he nodded, smiling at her. She groaned, rolled over, and vomited over the side of the booth. Jax grabbed her hair, holding it back from her face until she was done.

"Feel better?" he asked, and she shook her head, "Okay, we're gonna get you to a hospital." Elle nodded, the room spinning around her, as Jax picked her up and carried her in his arms.

"Prospect!" he yelled, seeing Miles across the room, who immediately ran up to him, "Go clean that up," he said, motioning with his head to the corner. Miles winced slightly but nodded, running off as Jax walked outside, Bex following behind.

"I don't have my truck here," Jax said, just realizing it as he walked outside and only saw his bike.

"We can take my car," Bex said, "I drove Elle over here." Jax nodded, following Bex to her car and loading Elle in the backseat. Jax had barely closed the door behind him before Bex was tearing out of the lot towards St. Thomas.

**A/N We're nearing the end of this story! The last chapter should be up by the end of the weekend. I really hope y'all have enjoyed it and thank you so much for reading! I've been having so much fun writing it! Please review! **


	16. Happily Ever After

**A/N ****Thanks for reading! For info regarding my next project, please seen the A/N at the end! Enjoy the final chapter of "The Fairest of Them All"! **

Jax ran a hand through his hair, pacing outside Elle's hospital room. He didn't like being back here. It brought back the memory of Elle screaming at him from her hospital bed all those months ago. He had put her in danger then, and this time he couldn't even protect her from fucking _Wendy_. His eyes narrowed at the thought as the doctor walked out of Elle's room and Jax ran up to him.

"How is she?" he asked quickly. The doctor smiled at him.

"She's going to be just fine," he said, "She's regained consciousness which is an excellent sign. We'll need to keep her here for a few more hours to monitor her while her body processes the GHB, but so far her vitals are good and it doesn't look like any long-term harm was done. She's been asking for you – you can go in and see her now." Jax nodded, relieved, as he stepped past the doctor and opened the door to Elle's room. She looked up when he entered and he winced, half expecting her to scream at him to get out like last time, but she just smiled at him.

"Hey," she said as he sat next to her. He took her hand and kissed it, smiling back at her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Like I was drugged," she said, "But I've lost the urge to throw up everything I've ever eaten, so that's a good thing." Before he could respond, they both jumped as Elle's door was flung open and Gemma ran in, rushing to Elle's side.

"I just talked to the doctor," Gemma said, "How are you, baby?"

"I'm fine, Gemma," Elle assured her, "Thanks for coming by." Gemma nodded, pursing her lips.

"I swear if I ever see that bitch again…" she muttered as her voice trailed off.

"It's been handled, mom," Jax said, "She won't be back." Gemma nodded, giving Elle a smile.

"Doctor says you'll be out of here today," she said.

"Yup, he said I'll only be held prisoner for a few more hours," Elle said. Gemma leaned over, kissing her forehead.

"Good. Well I'll leave you two. I have to get to the store. I'll see you guys tomorrow night," she said as she left the room. Elle looked over at Jax, who suddenly had a guilty expression on his face.

"What's tomorrow night?" she asked slowly.

"Family dinner," he responded hesitantly. Elle chewed nervously on her bottom lip. She had so far managed to avoid family dinners at Gemma's. A Friday night party at the clubhouse was one thing, where Bex would be there and it was much easier to avoid people with the place so packed. But a family dinner was much more intimate, and since she'd been intimate with half the people that attended those dinners she hadn't been too excited to go. Even if Jax said her past with the club didn't bother him, it still bothered her, and after Tig's comment last night she couldn't be too sure Jax's assurances were still accurate.

"It's not an optional thing this time, babe," Jax said sighing, "Ma's gonna have my ass if we miss another one."

"Maybe we can ask the doctor to keep me here for a couple of days?" Elle said hopefully. Jax chuckled, shaking his head.

"It'll be fine," he said and Elle looked down at her hands, not responding.

"What are you so worried about?" he asked gently, though he was pretty sure he knew where her apprehension was coming from. He leaned over her on the bed, kissing her lightly on the lips, causing the monitor attached to her heart to beep a little faster. Jax looked over at it and grinned.

"That's not even fair," Elle said, pouting. Jax looked back at her, running his fingers along her cheek, grinning devilishly.

"I wonder how fast I can make it go?" he said, leaning over her again. She laughed, pushing him off of her.

"At that rate, they'll never let me out of here," she admonished and he sat back in his seat.

"We wouldn't want that now would we," Jax said, "Then we'd never make it to family dinner."

SOASOASOASOASOASOASOA

Jax and Elle pulled up to Gemma and Clay's house the next night and Elle slowly got off of Jax's bike, trying to prolong the point where she'd have to go in. Jax grabbed her hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze as they walked in together.

"Oh thank God you're finally here," Gemma said as soon as they'd walked in the door, giving Jax a kiss in the cheek, "Elle, I could really use your help in the kitchen." Elle looked at Jax hesitantly. She really wasn't good in the kitchen.

"Just don't let her make lasagna," Jax said grinning before giving Elle a quick kiss and walking into the dining room to join his brothers. Elle followed Gemma into the kitchen and looked around nervously. The only other occupant was a middle aged black woman who was taking a roast out of the oven and Cherry, who smiled and waved when they walked in. Gemma pointed to the counter, where a plethora of vegetables were sitting.

"Elle's gonna chop the salad, Neeta," Gemma announced as they walked into the kitchen. The black woman turned and nodded, smiling, as she set the pot roast on the stove. Elle got to work while Gemma began busily bringing food to the table.

"You chop any slower, we're gonna be having that salad next week," Gemma said as she walked up behind Elle. She smiled sheepishly at Gemma, who was giving her an assessing look.

"Trying to buy more time before you have to go in there?" she asked and Elle shrugged, preferring not to answer. Gemma grabbed a knife and joined Elle at the counter while they both continued chopping.

"So how are things going with Jax?" Gemma asked conversationally.

"Great," Elle replied, glancing over her shoulder and smiling as she saw Jax talking to Opie at the table, "Really great."

"Good," Gemma responded as she continued cutting, "You know, I don't like a lot of people, Elle. But I like you. I think you're gonna be good for Jax." Elle smiled and looked over at Gemma.

"Really?" she asked, almost unbelieving, "I would've thought, what with the whole…"

"Croweater thing?" Gemma asked and Elle shrugged, nodding, "Yeah, that might not have been the best decision, but it turned out for the best. And there's no one in that room that's gonna judge you for it. At least… not to your face."

"It's just uncomfortable, I guess," Elle said quietly, "I mean, when it's just me and Jax it's great and we can both pretend like none of it ever happened. But then I come here, and half the guys here have seen me naked and I just don't understand how that doesn't bother Jax, because it bothers me. And I'm just afraid that he's going to suddenly realize that… that I'm just not good enough for him." Elle didn't know why she was spilling her guts to Gemma but suddenly every fear she'd been feeling for the past couple of weeks came to the surface and she couldn't stop it. Gemma just shook her head.

"You listen here, baby girl," she said, "We've all done shit we're not proud of. But if Jax says he's not bothered, he's not bothered. I know how much that boy cares about you, and some past indiscretions ain't gonna change that." Elle nodded but couldn't help feeling nervous about the dinner ahead. She just hoped no one else would say something stupid like Tig at the party on Friday.

"Just ask Cherry," Gemma said, her voice rising slightly as she looked over at Cherry, "She got around before hooking up with Sack, didn't you, Cherry?" Cherry rolled her eyes but threw on a smile.

"Guess you could say that," she said, tilting her head slightly.

"You see?" Gemma said, "And Half-Sack doesn't care." Elle nodded, silently apologizing to Cherry with her eyes for getting called out across the kitchen.

"Okay, I think that's everything," Gemma said as she put the knife down, "Toss all of this together in that bowl over there and bring it to the table." Elle did as she was asked while Gemma went to check on something on the stove. When everything was finally ready, Elle brought the salad to the table where Jax was sitting with what appeared to be almost every patched member of SAMCRO. Clay was at the head of the table with Bobby, Tig, Chibs, Happy and Opie sitting along the side. Lining the other side was Jax, Juice, and Half-Sack with a couple empty chairs for her and Cherry. Elle took a seat in the empty chair next to Jax, who gave her a quick kiss as she sat down.

"Guys, you know Elle," he said to the table.

"Hey, Elle, good to see you," Opie said as the others nodded in recognition. Gemma and Neeta brought the last of the food to the table and Gemma took her seat at the end opposite Clay.

"Alright, dig in," she said as everyone scrambled for the food. Elle stayed silent through most of the conversation, poking at her food just enough to be polite. Even after Gemma's pep talk she still couldn't shake the concern that Jax would suddenly realize he couldn't handle the fact that she'd slept with half the guys sitting around the table.

Jax was laughing at something Juice had said when he turned to Elle, noticing her unease.

"You okay, babe?" he asked quietly in her ear. She put a smile on her face and nodded, but he knew that she was still bothered, despite his reassurances, and he didn't know what else he could say to let her know that the past was the past. He would just have to find a way to clear the air – show her it wasn't a big deal.

Dinner started dying down and everyone leaned back in their chairs as the feeling of overeating hit them. Gemma glanced in the bread box and held it up.

"Anyone want the last roll?" she asked as Juice and Jax both spoke up.

"I'll take it," they chorused, then glanced at each other. Jax reached over, grabbing the roll and shrugging at Juice.

"You've seen my girl naked. I get the roll," he said, taking a bite. Elle's eyes widened as she looked at Jax, who just winked at her.

"Hmm, fair enough," Juice conceded.

"That reminds me," Tig spoke up and Elle groaned inwardly, "Look Snow White, now that you're officially off the market and I'm never getting my threesome, as the new Queen of the clubhouse I'm gonna need you to find me another princess to replace you." Jax threw the rest of the roll at Tig's head, grinning, as everyone around the table started heckling Tig. Elle had to suppress a grin as she shook her head.

"There's probably a Snow White blow up doll out there I could find you," she said, knocking the smirk off Tig's face.

"Why- why would you say that?" he said, a slight shudder running through his body and Elle laughed as Jax threw his arm around her shoulder and she leaned closer to him.

"So if you ever see Wendy again, you gonna give her the Gemma special?" Bobby asked, grinning as he leaned over the table. Elle flicked her eyes at Gemma who was shaking her head before looking back at Bobby.

"What's the Gemma special?" she asked. Bobby looked at Cherry who rolled her eyes.

"Skateboard to the face," she responded and Elle widened her eyes, grinning.

"Your nose got fixed," Gemma said shrugging and Elle laughed, finally starting to feel at home at the table.

SOASOASOASOASOASOA

Elle threw on one of Jax's SAMCRO t-shirts in the bathroom and walked back into the bedroom where Jax was already in bed. He looked up at she entered and grinned as she crawled towards him on the bed, turning to lean against him as he wrapped an arm around her.

"So what'd you think about tonight?" he asked.

"It was fun. It went a lot better than I thought it would be," she said.

"Good, because there's gonna be a lot more family dinners and I want you to know you belong there, just like everybody else," he said. She nodded.

"I do," she responded.

"Good, because you're stuck with me now," he said, grinning. She pursed her lips.

"Stuck with you, huh?" she asked.

"For a long time," he added.

"Well I suppose there are worse things I could be stuck with," she teased. He rolled over so he was on top of her, kissing her so deeply she was glad she was lying down because otherwise her knees would have buckled. By the time he'd pulled apart, she'd almost forgotten what they'd been talking about.

"Yeah, definitely worse things," she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him down to kiss him again, happiness surging through her at the thought of all the time to come spent with Jax.

**A/N This story is now complete! I want to thank everyone who read this story and stuck with it and enjoyed it! I had so much fun writing it and it was great getting to share it with all of you! Please review and let me know what you thought of the story! **

**If you are interested in my next project, I'm teaming up with Afspouse to write a new Sons of Anarchy story. The first chapter has just been posted under a NE****W USERNAME that we made together and that is: Kristinmw Afspouse - very creative I know :) So if you're interested, check out the story on that username! **


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